Hello,
My internal flood lights turn on, but on very very low. A week back one of the bulbs was gone, but at the same time all the other bulbs (7 out of a to tal 8) were gone very low - I thought it was just a matter of changing the faulty bulb, but even now the light is very low - i.e. it does turn on, but it is like as if it was on a dimmer turned down to minimum. The floodlight bulbs are between 45 and 30 w.
Could anyone tell me what is going on?
Who took it?
but at the same time all the other bulbs (7 out of a total 8) were gone very low - I thought it was just a matter of changing the faulty bulb, but even now the light is very low - i.e. it does turn on, but it is like as if it was on a dimmer turned down to minimum.
very low. A week back one of the bulbs was gone, but at the same time all the other bulbs (7 out of a total 8) were gone very low - I thought it was just a matter of changing the faulty bulb, but even now the light is very low - i.e. it does turn on, but it is like as if it was on a dimmer turned down to minimum.
It's either got bad power, bad neutral, bad module, or bad sockets. Possibly bad bulbs.
A bulb does not fail by having low output.
Though most anything is possible, you certainly would not have all of them failing at once. There is obviously a bad connection in some part of the circuit common to them all.
It could very well be a common ground, I'd check there first.
Sure sounds like a bad neutral. If whatever is on the other side draws more power than the floods, the floods will get brighter and what is on the other side will get lower voltage.
Which neighbor was the missing bulb pointed at? Ask him. :)
No dimmers (can't imagine you wouldn't think of that)
If you unscrew 3 bulbs do the rest get brighter (open neutral or high resistance connection)
Voltage H-N at bulb socket?
if not around 120 - voltage socket H to fixture ground (which is probably easily available.
And if necessary voltage from an extension cord H to bulb socket N.
How internal are they? Checking out your digestion?
Is there a dimmer in the circuit?
They would get brighter becuse fewer bulbs would have to have their current go through the bottleneck with is the bad connection to the neutral. So the voltage drop there would be smaller and the bulbs still screwed in would be brighter than they were.
By which you mean Hot to Neutral?
This brings up a question I've had for a long time. Even if there is a high resistance connection to neutral, one of your suspicions above, won't hot to neutral measure as full voltage when the only current through the circuit is the tiny meter current, not enough to make a voltage drop in the high resistance part of the circuit?
BTW, if the OP is in Ireland, is 120 the normal voltage, or is it 220?
Are there any other differences from light circuits in the US, where most posters come from?
Hot to neutral? I thought you meant connecting the extension cord Hot to the socket Neutral, but on second thought, you must mean with a light bulb in between.
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