Halogen lights not working?

[Rio]

Hi I have 12 halogen lights fitted into my ceiling with this light switch fitted onto the wall[h=1]GU6422EWPC Ultimate screwless flat plate 2 gang 2 way 300W electronic dimmer polished chrome white insert. [/h]So 1 half of the switch controls 6 lights and the other half of the switch controls the other switch. However only 1 half works (which means 6 lights come on) but when pressing the button for the other half to come on the bulbs flick on straight back off again.

They did work a few days ago but someone has been messing with them and as I don't have any instructions for the switch I am unsure what the problem is. I tried changing 1 of the bulbs but that didn't work. For some reason the 6 lights don't want to stay on like the rest of them.

Please help many thanks

 

[Specialist]

Hi Rio: It's quite possible that the switch itself has broken on the 1 side. When you say someone has been playing with it, can you be a bit more specific please.

 

[telectrix]

a 300watt dimmer is not man enough for 6 50watt halogen . with dimmers, you have to multiply the load by 1.6, so 480watt is your min. dimmer rating. or fit dimmable 7watt LED lamps

 

[Specialist]

I gotta be getting old lol, I did'nt pick up on that 1.

 

[Silly Sausage]

a 300watt dimmer is not man enough for 6 50watt halogen . with dimmers, you have to multiply the load by 1.6, so 480watt is your min. dimmer rating. or fit dimmable 7watt LED lamps

As Tel says, you've probably killed it!
The catalogue lists this switch as 2 x 200W. Also not suitable for LED lamps.

 

[spud1]

Try swapping dimmer modules on switch plate to 400W modules and replacing lamps with 35W equivilents

 

[Rio]

The wattage is correct (I gave the switch info as an example of what I use) and the halogen bulbs are correct (as it's been working for the last 2 years), there's obviously a connection problem between the switch and the bulbs. Normally light switches last for a very long time but I don't know why 1 half works and the other doesn't, is there some kind of fuse behind the plate switch? why will it not work?

 

[Rauer]

Try it with a regular switch

 

[sparkydude]

What are the ratings of the halogen lamps ?

Then we can better understand what the issue might be .

Nick

 

[Rio]

The halogen bulbs are 240v but that's got nothing to do with why the connection between the switch and the bulb why it's not working because the other half of the switch is working and they have the very same bulbs in. I'm trying to understand if it could be the switch, is there some kind of fuse that could have blown etc?

 

[Mark_Burgess]

A switch as young as 3 days old could fail, change the switch for a standard one as suggested, if that still does not work we can take it further.

If you called any one of us out, the first thing we will do is test the continuity of the switch, or replace it.

 

[Specialist]

The wattage is correct (I gave the switch info as an example of what I use) and the halogen bulbs are correct (as it's been working for the last 2 years), there's obviously a connection problem between the switch and the bulbs. Normally light switches last for a very long time but I don't know why 1 half works and the other doesn't, is there some kind of fuse behind the plate switch? why will it not work?

Hi Rio: We can only go on the information you give us to try & help you, if you take a look back at your original question you did say that this was the switch fitted. Switches can & do fail and this is quite probably what's happened with yours, if you Temporaily put an ordinary switch in place of it then this would prove whether the Dimmer module is faulty or not.

 

[mechelec]

Im sorry but you really do need to get an electrician in as you clearly do not have a great deal of understanding to carry out fault finding safely. Perhaps you could get the person who messed with them in the first place?

 

[Rauer]

To be honest I can't be bothered to waste my breath ,( sorry I mean fingertips as I'm typing) you've come on here asking for advice cause the lights aren't working , we've all said change the switch as it sounds as tho it's faulty and your reply straight away is, it's not the switch cause the other one works!

 

[sparkydude]

I asked for the Rating of the lamps not the voltage. if you say they are 240V then thye could either be 35w or 50w halogens. if 50w then its likely they have overcooked the dimmer. It may be possibel you had 35s fitted originally and have maybe put some 50s in by mistake ??. basically as said before, just because its a 400w dimmer does not mean you can run it at 400w with thise lamps. It may have lasted for two years then died , but that does not mean it is right. Do as has beeen already suggested and try putting a switch in its place , or just link the cores with a connector block to see if they work then. If so its the dimmer thats defunkt.

Nick