The part may go in and out with little trouble, but parts outlets usually don't accept returns on electrical parts. A misdiagnoses involving replacing a $80 part can more than offset the cost of paying a mechanic to do the diagnoses.
mike_0 snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote: ...
I'm virtually certain they're wired in parallel; otherwise a burned-out bulb in one would cause the other to go out as well (like the old Christmas light strings).
More than likely what you have is a neutral connection that is bad or maybe even open. You're seeing voltage and very minimal current; the bulb needs the current to light even though it is apparently seeing voltage.
Had a neutral here at the pole feeding an out-building that broke; same symptom of voltage but no current.
I'd start at all the connections and then do continuity checking between each end disconnecting one from the next to at least try to "ring out" where in the circuit the break might be before just digging. It's quite possible the problem is at one of the connections.
I have seen wire connections "go bad" twice in my house. One was a wire nut in a kitchen ceiling fixure box which served as the J-box for half of the kitchen. In another case, a connection to a bathroon switch for the fan stopped "working." In each case, I just "re-did" the work without replacing any component. So that's twice in about 12 years in a good sized home.
Oh, on another occasion a connection to a duplex outlet "went bad" and I didn't catch on until the outlet overheated from a minor load. In that case the outlet had to be replaced.
The house wiring was/is a mix of original stuff, DIY from the prevous owner, and my DIY. I might have been resonsible for the bathroom problem. The others were like that when we took over the place.
ok sorry if i confused the issue by saying they are wired in series. i guess i don't know what that means.
what i have is underground wire buried from house to lamp post #1, and a then another underground wire from there to lamp post #2.
I remove lamp1 from the top of the post and put power to the wire leading to lamp2, and lamp2 lights. so i figure that wire is fine.
power from house to lamp1, no light, but small test light works. I believe test light is incandescent.
i put a working 60watt light on the INSIDE end of wire1, and power to the lampost end, and the light did not light. Same thing with the 60w light outside.
I don't feel i'd be a fool to start digging. I DO plan to dig at the base of post first, hoping to find a broken wire..
and - the connection inside the house is to a GFI protected outlet that is working and has power.
For straight electrical work, I recommend a Wiggy.
I'll have to dig out the specs on my Beckman 310. I could use the AC function to see audio at a pre-amp level. A lot harder to stare at the digital readout then an analog VOM, but it could catch a glitch in a
+5VDC line that was too fast to budge the needle on a VOM. And even if it is so sensitive, if the simple light bulb load was left in the circuit it could certainly be used to troubleshoot problems as in this thread. We sure are a long way from the OP aren't we?
That's further evidence that the wire is fine. If the test light glows where the wires connect to the lamp socket, but the bulb in the socket doesn't light, there must be something wrong with the the socket, the bulb, or the connections to the socket.
How did you connect the 60 watt light? If the bulb on post 2 lights, there must be continuity from the breaker panel to post 2.
I wouldn't hope to find a broken wire. I'd fear breaking one if I dug.
I wonder if there's an intermittent connection to that outlet. Sometimes that happens if the wires are stuck in instead of screwed down.
Like a VOM set for AC, a Wiggy will detect either AC or DC. A Wiggy will work even for blind electricians.
However, if the voltage is below a threshold or the impedance is too high, a Wiggy will tell you the circuit is dead when there may be dangerous voltage. Also, a Wiggy draws enough current to overheat if you aren't quick.
I still have a Micronta DMM from about 1977. Two drawbacks were that it measured only volts, ohms, and milliamps; and it would deplete a 9V battery pretty fast. It's still useful because it's accurate at least to 20kHz, and sometimes I need several meters at once to see what's happening.
I trenched and replaced the wire to lamp post #1 from the house today, all fixed. i don't think i explained my testing procedure well enough, if you could not follow me. there was no doubt that wire was bad.
I've never had a Wiggy overheat. The fact that it will put a slight load on a circuit is a good thing. Stray voltages don't distract you.
TDD
Yeah. I didn't mean you coudl return it. I should have said "go out and go in with little trouble."
P&M because the group fills quickly
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