Help with circuit finding

[lady electric]

Hi anyone shed any light on a problem i am having at the moment please
I am trying to find the reason why i cannot isolate a light in my mums garage,
it is a 3 storey house which used to be 3 flats and was rewired 30 years ago, i have found out there are 2 feeds still in the house
i have turned off what i thought to be the main isolater and removed all fuses (in 2 boards!!) i have searched high and low to find anyother boards to no avail
everything is off apart from this damn light (which is the only thing i need to work on!!)
the wire goes up and out of the garage and dissappears into no where, i cannot find anything in the vacinity that is linked - i have looked at switches and lights on all floors - albeit not everyone!!
How do i isolate the light?
Please help!!

 

[act1988]

what type of light is it?

 

[lady electric]

flourescant tube, single switch

 

[T&Earth]

Hi

I once came a cross a shower that I could not isolate, it turned out to be wired directly into the tails of the consumer unit, only think I can suggest.

T&Earth

 

[act1988]

yeah I've come across a similar thing with a sub main to a garage... cant really think of anything else myself.

 

[Paul.M]

Don't just look at light switches, the feed could be coming from socket circuit. Process of elimination.

Turn off each board in turn and see if/when light goes out. Once you find which board its from start taking out one fuse at a time. When you have found the fuse PLEASE check that the light circuit in the garage is dead and test your tester before and after. Now you know what circuit it is fed from you can start tracking down where it is connected at. Most probably a Jb under the floor so prepare yourself for more head scratching. Oh and don't be surprised if its fed from the next door neighbours garage or house, it won't be the first time that's happened.

 

[act1988]

shes alrdy said she has isolated both db's..

 

[Phil]

I have seen supplies all over the place in the past, nightmare sometimes. as Paul suggested it may well be off a neighbours garage if there is one near by. do you have any pics of the main incomer? it could also as mentioned be direct into the tails. I had to do a club in Blackpool before and could not isolate about a quarter of the building. turned out they had split it from the building next door at one time but never bothered to sort out the electrics emergency lighting or fire alarms. what a dam headache that turned out to be.

 

[Newsome3]

Smells like been taped into main incomer

 

[Paul.M]

If you are sure that there is only 2 dbs and "if this was me" I would pull the DNO's fuse and if that don't work ask the neighbour to turn off his main isolator and if that's not it the previous owner has taped into the main DNO's supply cable, all that for free electricity for a light in a garage.



Newsome beat me to it .

 

[Newsome3]

If you are sure that there is only 2 dbs and "if this was me" I would pull the DNO's fuse and if that don't work ask the neighbour to turn off his main isolator and if that's not it the previous owner has taped into the main DNO's supply cable, all that for free electricity for a light in a garage

Or failing that check the t+e cable that's tapped into the street light outside your house
Lol

 

[Des 56]

The garage may have been rented out to a neighbour previousy and a supply taken from their property Evnetually forgotten about when tenancy has changed, or any of the other resons suggested by others

Do what has been advised by the others and pull the main fuse , see what happens, then report back to this forum

 

[oldtimer]

Me thinks the "use to be 3 flats" is the giveaway here when you have flats you have what I would call stair or public access lighting

 

[miner69er]

may sound like a daft question but.....
have you actually tested for voltage at the light or is it just still on/shining. reason for asking is, it could be an emergency light fitting, so even if you disconnect the mains, ooh look it's still on, being powered from it's internal battery.
may sound be a simplistic view point but quite often the easy/obvious answer is actually the right one.

 

[lady electric]

may sound like a daft question but.....
have you actually tested for voltage at the light or is it just still on/shining. reason for asking is, it could be an emergency light fitting, so even if you disconnect the mains, ooh look it's still on, being powered from it's internal battery.
may sound be a simplistic view point but quite often the easy/obvious answer is actually the right one.

Yes i have checked for voltage and it is still reading 230v i have checked the voltage indicator as well - nearly chucked it out thinking it wasnt working - still scratching my head over this one i'm afraid .....