Had a job to look at yesterday concerning the kitchen lighting. Lady said that one row of downlights had stopped working. The lights were controlled by two single mounted dimmer switches so Maybe one of the switches had packed up? The lights were GU10 that wasn't working and selv on the cluster that was working. I switched of the mcb for the circuit concerned and one of the drops to the switches was still live!! ( Good job for safe isolation procedure ) I found that when I switched off the 32a sockets mcb the feed to the switch was dead ( this was the selv cluster) I got the row of dowlighters that was proper to the app 6a mcb working and proved that circuit to be healthy. The lady said that the lights had been fine in the time that She'd been at the house so I explained about how much current the cable can carry and fault conditions and that further investigation was needed. I made safe the ends of the conductors and put a blanking plate on for safety.She is getting me back to do and EICR on her property soon as she is now concerned about what else is lurking.
Lights on a 32a circuit?
- Thread starter Megaohm7
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Typical DIY lashup,, you're bound to find more
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So you scared the pants off her to get her to pay for an EICR I must try that tactic. :slap
Since you had a "good" lighting feed, could you not have jumpered that across to the other switch to power the other set from the lighting circuit? or are the switches completely separate? (thought there's very likely to be a borrowed neutral issue as well if you do that)
I mentioned before, but a job I did last week, I found a ring final, where each end of the ring was fed from a separate 32A MCB. Many houses have a lot of horrors lurking, but unknown to the owner because everything "works".
Since you had a "good" lighting feed, could you not have jumpered that across to the other switch to power the other set from the lighting circuit? or are the switches completely separate? (thought there's very likely to be a borrowed neutral issue as well if you do that)
I mentioned before, but a job I did last week, I found a ring final, where each end of the ring was fed from a separate 32A MCB. Many houses have a lot of horrors lurking, but unknown to the owner because everything "works".
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The switches are indeed seperate. So until I investigate more she is happy to do without her selv lights for now. I managed to keep a straight face throughout too but on a serious note this lady is concerned about her electrics as I can only point out to her what I find as I have a duty of care too. I will give an update to what else I find in this property and I take photos too for evidence in a report.
Robin Spark
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The FCU is probably somewhere daft like in the cupboard behind the cereals,under the plinths, or lying on top of the wall cabinets.
BTW did you scare her pants off, as i never tried that before I was married? I always tried to charm them off:^O
