Problem with a light fitting

[Adrian]

My elderly next door neighbour called me round earlier as her lights had gone off. A quick rummage in the cupboard showed that one of the trips had gone, so I turned it back on, and the lights came back on. So far so good. I asked her to try turning on the light that had caused it the trip to go, and as she did it went again (and again, and again). So we think we know where the problem is.

The fitting in question is an old(*) ceiling fitting with a circular tube. I haven't investigated further (that comes on Saturday), but we think it might be a fluorescent rather than a filament. Assuming it is the former, what is the likely situation with it ? Assuming they get someone in to fix it, is the likely solution a full replacement, or could it be repaired ?

(*) old. They have lived there for 20+ years and reckon it was in when they moved in, looking at it, I can believe it.

Adrian

[Andrew Gabriel]

It can almost certainly be quickly repaired in situ by someone who knows what they're doing. The only thing that would be hard to fix would be if the ballast has internally shorted to its case, but that's most unusual (unless water has leaked into it).

Of course it might not be the fitting, but the house wiring. What state was that in (what you could see of it)? Not rubber, I hope!

[Andy Dingley]

Fluorescent, used to be popular. The tubes are still around, but usually cost more than a new fitting complete. Not terribly easy to find either.

[S Viemeister]

more than a new fitting complete. Not terribly easy to find either.

I have one of those, complete with still-working tube (and a brand-new spare), sitting on a shelf in the garage. Too good to toss, too ugly to use.

[Bill Wright]

Remove the fitting because it's scrap and a fire risk in any case and turn the power on. It there's a trip there's a wiring fault. If not buy her a nice modern fitting. It doesn't have to be a fluorescent.

Bill

[Brian Gaff]

It will probably make the decision for them. I took an old plastic fitting apart to clean it up a bit not long back and the plastic had gone so brittle it literally crumbled to dust! Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Funnily enough when we had the house rewired there were two distinct things I noticed. Firstly in the main the rubber covered wire was mostly OK and still rubbery, but in some places it had gone hard and fell to bits. This was normally near the end of the conduits.

Brian

[Adrian]

In message , Andrew Gabriel writes

Thanks for the follow up (and those elsewhere in the topic).

Not sure what the wiring is, I hope it is PVC, but I've not seen any of it. The consumer unit has been replaced in the last 4-5 years, so I would hope that the electrician that did it would have checked the wiring out at the same time (and yes, I know what was OK then might not be now)

It is unlikely that it has been watered, given the location, I think it would be obvious if it had.

I'll have a look at it in daylight and see what appears, but I suspect the solution will be a new fitting.

Adrian

[CJ]

Hi From your description it may be an old circular fluorescent unit (my mum had one for years) About 18" dia with a glass plate covering the tube .This was secured by a centre chrome bolt. If so the usual problems we had was that the tube connections were on flying leads which plugged onto the end of the lamp. These used to overheat and melt causing a short on the heater feeds resulting in the choke eventually packing up or the cables burning through. Repair is not really an option as the tubes are rarer than hens teeth and if the cover has not been off for years you may find that as you try to unscrew it it rips out of the mounting rather than unscrewing. Sorry to be a killjoy but I may be wrong. HTH & GL CJ

My elderly next door neighbour called me round earlier as her lights had gone off. A quick rummage in the cupboard showed that one of the trips had gone, so I turned it back on, and the lights came back on. So far so good. I asked her to try turning on the light that had caused it the trip to go, and as she did it went again (and again, and again). So we think we know where the problem is.

The fitting in question is an old(*) ceiling fitting with a circular tube. I haven't investigated further (that comes on Saturday), but we think it might be a fluorescent rather than a filament. Assuming it is the former, what is the likely situation with it ? Assuming they get someone in to fix it, is the likely solution a full replacement, or could it be repaired ?

(*) old. They have lived there for 20+ years and reckon it was in when they moved in, looking at it, I can believe it.

Adrian

[Adrian]

In message , CJ writes

That is a very good description of it.

I've pretty well written it off before looking at it, but it might be recoverable. Not sure how to break the bad news.

Adrian

[meow2222]

Circline fluorescent, most were made in the 1960s. Disconnect fitting to see if it still trips. If it does its not hard to add a new ballast, if that's the problem.

NT

[Bill Wright]

if it still trips.

If it does its not hard to add a new ballast, if that's the problem.

Then the tube will go. For goodness sake chuck the bloody thing away.

Bill

[Andrew Gabriel]

Tubes still easily available. Even places like Homebase have them on the shelf.

[Adrian]

In message , Adrian writes

Which I did today. I took the tube out, and when we tried the power, the trip stayed in. I explained the options (new tube, if she can find one, still might not work), replace (might need repairs to the ceiling. She has decided to try getting a new tube.

Adrian

[meow2222]

Sounds like a partial short in the ballast. If it is, the trip will, and the new tube will quickly be dead.

NT