Upstairs lights out

mcoc1981 · Oct 5, 2019

Hoping to get some troubleshooting advice in case this is straight forward, before calling a professional. I have googled but a bit unsure of next steps

The upstairs ceiling lights in my house are out. I had went to turn on light in upstairs bedroom and i'm sure the light flashed on for a quick second, before going out. Now all rooms upstairs (and downstairs hall only) are the same.

Checked the fusebox and nothing had tripped. I swapped the fuses between the 2 "lightin" switches, and nothing changed, so the fuse is ok. That's me out of ideas really - complete learner at electricity matters.

Googling mentioned either checking/replacing fuse wiring, and also (i think) checking wiring at the actual lights. Are these things better left to a professional? I don't mind turning off all the switches and having a go.

1 other question, the picture I attached, i'm not sure what the box circled in yellow is. Is there any point switching off/on anything else in the box?

Thanks in advance for any help!

telectrix · Oct 5, 2019

the box circled is an RCD (earth leakage trip) . if that trips, all your electrics will be off. i suspectafuse has blown due to a catastrophic bulb failure. check the fuse marked smoke alarms.

littlespark · Oct 5, 2019

The yellow circled box is an up front rcd, protecting your installation from an earth fault.

I’m surprised to see fuses, when that board I expect can take circuit breakers.

If you have looked at the obvious, ie blown fuse... then I’m afraid fault finding is best left to a pro.

Tel could be onto something. Smoke alarm and light labelled incorrectly?

telectrix · Oct 5, 2019

it's that double-headewd arrow made me think.

Spoon · Oct 5, 2019

telectrix said:
it's that double-headewd arrow made me think.

It does seem to indicated that they have swapped.

mcoc1981 · Oct 5, 2019

Amazing, thanks Telectrix that was it. Maybe I should've figured that out from the arrow myself, I just assumed any markings were related to the profession!

This is why forums like these are genius. Could've quite easily called out a professional for something so trivial

I swapped those fuses around for now, and lights are working. Just need to nip out and buy a replacement. Bizarrely i have a few packets but they're too long for the switches

Thanks to others for input also

telectrix · Oct 5, 2019

mcoc1981 said:
Amazing, thanks Telectrix that was it. Maybe I should've figured that out from the arrow myself, I just assumed any markings were related to the profession!

This is why forums like these are genius. Could've quite easily called out a professional for something so trivial

I swapped those fuses around for now, and lights are working. Just need to nip out and buy a replacement. Bizarrely i have a few packets but they're too long for the switches

Thanks to others for input also

bear in mind that the different fuses are differnt sizes, physically, to stop you fitting an ove rated fuse in the holder. e.g.you can't fit a 30A fuse in a 5A holder. you will find that 1 bulbis not working.sometimes when a bulb blows (esp cheap crap), it draws a huge current for a split second, thus blowing the fuse. and no apologies to the bulb/lamp ~~peasants~~ pedants for saying "bulb".

p.s.send me your bank details so i can rob you for a huge amount . as a Scouser, i have a rep. and street cred. to maintain.

mcoc1981 · Oct 5, 2019

Ah I see. I'll take the old one to the store to make sure I get the right ones in that case.

I should've actually asked about the cause. Since the light was on for a brief second before blowing, I assume it was one of the bulbs in that bedroom which caused the issue? They could be cheap crap which I probably bought in Tesco - one of those spotlight type bulbs.

Will have to look into something better quality

Thanks

Lister1987 · Oct 5, 2019

telectrix said:
the box circled is an RCD (earth leakage trip) . if that trips, all your electrics will be off. i suspectafuse has blown due to a catastrophic bulb failure. check the fuse marked smoke alarms.

Needs OP to select WINNER trophy on this answer ?

ipf · Oct 5, 2019

mcoc1981 said:
Ah I see. I'll take the old one to the store to make sure I get the right ones in that case.

I should've actually asked about the cause. Since the light was on for a brief second before blowing, I assume it was one of the bulbs in that bedroom which caused the issue?

Thanks

You'll be able to tell which one caused the element short......it'll be off when you use the switch