MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Hi all,
I replaced the ceiling rose upstairs with a junction box in the loft so I could fit a new surface mounted light fitting. The power was off (obviously) and whilst I was doing this the girlfriend removed a couple of bulbs from a light fitting downstairs with the intention of putting new bulbs in. Anyway, after installing the new light fitting and turning the power back on, the breaker for the lights blew. I tried it again and everything came back on, including the new light fitting upstairs, however the light that the girlfriend removed the bulb from no longer works. After closer inspection it appears the dimmer switch it was connected to has blown.
I've checked the wiring in the new junction box upstairs and the connection into the new light fitting and I'm more than happy with. However, is i possible that a fault upstairs could have travelled down the circuit back to the consumer board taking out the dimmer as it went? If so, what would be the likely fault? Or was this just coincidence and the dimmer has blown?
Ta.
If you've just connected all the same colour wires together in the junction box, you've almost certainly done it wrong and introduced a short. There are some good wiring lighting diagrams on diynot.com
As I say the new light works fine, wired as per the digram below. If there was a short, surely it wouldn't work?
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normally upstairs and downstairs are on 2 separate circuits, does depend on the age of the property somewhat, with older houses maybe having only 1 circuit. Light dimmers can store a small amount of electricity in the capacitance circuitry, could just be coincidence. Install a conventional switch in place of the dimmer and see if it lights.
It's all on the same circuit here, old house. Just trying to rule out whether a faults exists.
When the GF replaced the bulbs, did she increase the overall wattage and exceed the rating of the dimmer switch? Also what bulbs were used with the dimmer switch? - dimmers usually require filament bulbs unless you're using special dimmable fluorescent bulbs.
When the GF replaced the bulbs, did she increase the overall wattage and exceed the rating of the dimmer switch? Also what bulbs were used with the dimmer switch? - dimmers usually require filament bulbs unless you're using special dimmable fluorescent bulbs.
She removed two bulbs but never actually replaced them or put the originals back in, consequently when the power was turned back on, the light fitting with the dimmer was lacking two bulbs.
I'm at a loss then. I'd check the wiring to the faulty light and dimmer switch before replacing the dimmer with a conventional light switch.