Problem with lights in our showroom

[gibbyisking]

Hi folks,

was working at the office and workshop today. the boss came through and asked me to come have a look at the kitchen showroom. the lights are controlled by a 1 gang 1 way switch but only half of them was switching the other half was staying on all the time. Now i have never seen this happen since I have worked with the company but he says its happened a few time before. The lights are recessed T8 4x fluorescent lamps. I am going to dive into it next weekend but I wondered if anyone on here had any ideas where to start?

 

[trev]

Were they working ok yesterday? If so who has messed with them?
Get a qualified spark in and he/she will do it correctly

 

[gibbyisking]

yeah they were working ok yesterday. i am a qualified spark lol. they were installed by a different company and i only started 4 weeks ago. The company i work for recently moved to a bigger a premises and spent alot of money getting it done up but i the electrical installation isnt up to scratch. Ive been fixing alot of things. just wanted to know where to start with this showroom.

 

[trev]

Well if they were ok yesterday what's happened between then and now? I thought it best to add that bit about getting a spark in because as you know, a lot of people fiddle with things they shouldn't (They must never have seen the green mile hehe)
It may be a nightmare case where you have to bell cables out if someone has been fiddling mate

 

[Baconhead]

Start at the last working one in the line,and find out which one it should be feeding and check for a line to it,possible loose connections from from to the others.

 

[mogga]

the ones that "stay on " may be fed from a different switch try looking beside door last Man Out Switch or they may be 24hr "police" lights

 

[alli]

Could the light switch be feeding a couple of contactors, with one sticking?

 

[Engineer54]

Start at the last working one in the line,and find out which one it should be feeding and check for a line to it,possible loose connections from from to the others.

The other half of the lights, are staying ON not off!! lol!!! So it's not going to be a loose connection i'm afraid...

 

[Baconhead]

The other half of the lights, are staying ON not off!! lol!!! So it's not going to be a loose connection i'm afraid...

Lol ye just read it again.

 

[gibbyisking]

yeah there is contactors at the board like. but surely the whole showroom will be on the same contactor. i hunted around earlier on today for another switch defintly just the 1. I thought maybe a funny ballast is this possible?

 

[alarm man]

yeah there is contactors at the board like. but surely the whole showroom will be on the same contactor.

never ever presume...it may just kill you..

 

[gibbyisking]

ur right mate. i will check the contactors tomorrow. looks likes i will be stuck there anyways with this snow lol happy days

 

[Engineer54]

I've just read it again too, now i understand he's talking about half the lamps are remaining on while the other lamps are able to be switched on and off!!

Without seeing the wiring of these fittings, i wouldn't even guess why they are staying on. I doubt very much if they are dual supplied, not unless they have been wired thru a timer for out of hours illumination of the showroom. A little more checking on your part i think!!! lol!!!

 

[gibbyisking]

nope no timer. just a switch and contactors beside the db. at first i thought it was the emergency feeds mixed up but its strange how this only happens sometimes. alarm man i think ur on to something with the contactor like