L-E: 230V

[Dambo]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to pick your brains about something. Went to a call this evening where the customer said their bathroom lights (2 x large recessed downlights) has stopped working. Upon inspection I disovered that, when switching the lights on, 230v wasn't present between L-N. However 230v is present between L-E but nothing has tripped in the consumer unit which is worrying. Obviously I've explained to them to leave the light off (It's a 2nd floor en suite so doesn't get used often) and I'm going back tomorrow to investigate further. Has anyone come across this before?

Dambo

 

[samson337]

Loose terminals on neutral ?

 

[Steve3948]

Dropped Neutral, that's all :innocent

 

[ProDave]

Elementary as already said, you have lost the neutral.

You need to start tracing the wiring back to either a junction box or the previous light fitting if looped at the light to find the fault.

 

[steptoe]

:shakehead

is this a wind up?

surely this isnt the standard of people going out and doing work in folks houses for cash remuneration.............

 

[OnOff]

:shakehead is this a wind up?

surely this isnt the standard of people going out and doing work in folks houses for cash remuneration.............

Plant from the Dark Side methinks!

 

[Dambo]

I'm well aware that the neutral's been lost, what I was trying to establish was why this would have happened as nobody tends to be even on the that floor of the house.

 

[steptoe]

well you wont establish anything in hyperspace, you need to do some physical testing.

 

[ParkySparky]

Loose connection causes heat causes termination to disintegrate!

Or a mouse was hungry!!!

 

[steptoe]

Hi guys,Just wanted to pick your brains about something. Went to a call this evening where the customer said their bathroom lights (2 x large recessed downlights) has stopped working. Upon inspection I disovered that, when switching the lights on, 230v wasn't present between L-N. However 230v is present between L-E but nothing has tripped in the consumer unit which is worrying. Obviously I've explained to them to leave the light off (It's a 2nd floor en suite so doesn't get used often) and I'm going back tomorrow to investigate further. Has anyone come across this before?

Dambo

it doesnt read as though you had any idea that it was a lost neutral, otherwise you would understand why nothing had tripped.

yes, its a common fault, again, you are making it sound like something strange that you do not understand.

 

[OnOff]

Surely most likely that the N has simply come out of a screw terminal somewhere........which maybe wasn't tightened properly originally .........or IMO less likely, the wire itself is broken......maybe over zealous with stripping the ends? Or something fell over in the loft against the cable and gave it a tug etc etc etc.

 

[ParkySparky]

At the end of the day it could be anything! Does the light in next room have a neutral! Find one that does and trace from there!

No quick fix! Just gotta find it!

Its not the hardest fault in the electrical world to find in a house!!!!

 

[Dambo]

I'm sure all will become clear upon inspection tomorrow. Just wanted to run it past you guys. Cheers.

 

[adammid]

What Were your findings then? Lost neutral? Bet you feel silly now?

 

[Revved Up Sparky]

Assuming the downlights are wired with switched feeds from the switch I would begin by opening up the switch and checking the neutral connections are intact there. If not then I would check the previous light point in the loop and so on.... I'm sure you'll find it fairly quickly if you use a sytematic approach. I wish you all the best with your fault finding.

 

[Revved Up Sparky]

Tried to edit but it would not let me: here is my amended post:-

Assuming the downlights are wired with switched feeds from the switch I would begin by opening up the switch and checking the neutral connections are intact there. If you are getting 230V L-N there then the fault is at the first downlight after the switch. If the incoming neutral at the switch is not reading 230 V L-N then I would check the previous light point in the loop and so on.... I'm sure you'll find it fairly quickly if you use a sytematic approach. I wish you all the best with your fault finding.

 

[Doc Hudson]

Thread moved due to very basic nature of Question.

Doc H