ceiling light not working after fuse change

[James McComas]

Hi

Recently our main living room ceiling light stopped working. Changed the fuse and light bulb but still did not work. All lights on the same fuse work no problem. Unscrewed light switch and that looked ok. I then unscrewed the light fitting and checked the wiring and it is dead - can touch the bare cables with no shock. Any thoughts? It is an old house and I have no idea how it is wired. I took up the floorboards in the bedroom above and followed wires back to where they entered that room but could not see any obvious problems. I don't wish to start taking apart the whole house.

 

[gutterball]

is this a wind up. if your idea of testing is to touch potentially live cables, you had better start making funeral arrangements.

 

[tomspark93]

Hi

Recently our main living room ceiling light stopped working. Changed the fuse and light bulb but still did not work. All lights on the same fuse work no problem. Unscrewed light switch and that looked ok. I then unscrewed the light fitting and checked the wiring and it is dead - can touch the bare cables with no shock. Any thoughts? It is an old house and I have no idea how it is wired. I took up the floorboards in the bedroom above and followed wires back to where they entered that room but could not see any obvious problems. I don't wish to start taking apart the whole house.

Touching bare wires to see if they are live or dead is just bloody stupid. Sorry to be blunt but for the sake of your safety call an electrician who will be able to find the problem pretty quickly with right tools and testing procedures.

 

[Adam W]

Welcome to the forum James McComas.

 

[James McComas]

Obviously not how I tested it originally. Anyone have a solution , or just more abuse?

 

[Adam W]

I would find out where the cable is fed from and check continuity.

 

[snowhead]

Was the fuse blown?

Did you test the switch or substitute it for a known working one?

There aren't many people (even on here) that can look at a switch and see it's failed, unless it's blown to pieces.

 

[Octopus]

Do you have any test kit?

 

[7029 dave]

How is the circuit wired?, do you have supply at switch.?

 

[ipf]

May well find James in a McCOMAs, by the sound.

 

[ruston]

Did you prove the replacement lamp was working, and the lamp you took out was duff?

 

[David M]

Welcome to the forum James,
No offense but, if you have tried by replacing the obvious - lamp, fuse etc... then the likely hood is that there is a fault either with the light fitting, switch or supply circuit. If you feel competent enough to change the light fitting or the switch, that is your choice. I would not recommend this though.
Its better to be safe than sorry, get a reputable qualified spark in to fix the problem for you. If its a simple fault that's easy to fix it won't cost you too much. At least you are safe in the knowledge that the problem has been sorted correctly.