I moved into this bungalow about 18 months ago, it's 40 years old, seems well constructed and is a bit of a time capsule - Avocado bath, Artex ceilings.
Shortly after I moved in the centre lights in three adjacent rooms failed. When I checked the fuse box the light fuse cartridge was wrapped in silver paper. I had 1 cartridge the right size so I replaced the one with silver paper. All the lights worked again except these three. I have lived with up-lighters since while I decide what I want to do.
Last night I got up to go the loo and noticed I had left a light on downstairs, I decided to leave it until morning. When I came downstairs this morning the kitchen light (one of the three that stopped working) was on. I turned the switch on and off whereupon it decide to stay off again.
At the moment I don't know if I need an electrician or an exorcist.
The kitchen has 3 x spotlights hanging off a strip, is it likely to have a transformer or similar above the ceiling?
I have almost completed a rewire of the garage lighting. The old wiring has been cut away from the fluorescent lights and I've taken a spur off the 13A ring main to power the lights. All the wiring is now on the surface in trunking, rather than behind plasterboard/hardboard and buried in rockwool or polystyrene insulation. The only difficulty I had was that it was not possible to add the 1mm^2 wiring to the already present 2 x 2.5mm^2 wiring on the 13A socket. If I left the 1mm wire single it kept slipping out when I tightened the screw already holding the 2.5mm wires. If I doubled it over it it was too wide to fit! So I used a 20A connector block to hold all the wiring, which means that the
13A socket is now effectively on a short (8cm) spur.
Sounds very like the whole thing was wired by a bodger to me. Without knowing the routing and what is in use to join cables, I cannot comment but the silver paper seems a big clue to their competence. Brian
Cable may only be warranted only for 25 years but that's because it may be used at high temperatures. We know that such cable in normal domestic use, lightly loaded most of the time and not exposed to UV, can last 60 years. Many domestic installations over 50 years old pass inspection every year.
Well my pvc done in the 70s, is seemingly in pretty good nick from what I can tell, but there are circuit breakers on all circuits which do pop if there is a fault. Obviously not as sophisticated as the latest sensing devices, but adequate to protect from fires and other problems that might arise. I think with pack, it very much depends on how the cables were run. Sharp bends are to be avoided and so is trying to poke too many things down an existing conduit. It was very messy during it as new routes were found for the wiring avoiding such issues. One thing I'm not so sure of though, is a bathroom fire on the wall, which appears to be on the lighting circuit upstairs. All others are either on the ring via a spur or plug in. Brian
I'm a bit surprised you have a fuse box in a house built 40 years ago. But others will know better and, if you can put a photo somewhere of the fuse box, may be able to date it.
As with any life expectancy, there will be plenty of examples of those that exceed it, sometimes by quite a margin. I hope to do the same. However, there will be some that don't and, having cartridge fuses fitted that recently, combined with the reported faults, I would tend to expect the wiring has not been done to the best standards. Therefore, this is one case that IMO should be treated as not the most likely to exceed the life expectancy.
but there are circuit breakers on all circuits which do pop if
So you are saying that replacing the "fuse with foil" with a new fuse, made no operational difference at all? i.e. Before all the lights bar three worked. After, the same.
If so then the most likely explanation is that you have loop-in wiring, and there is a loose connection at one end or the other of the feed to the first of the three failed lights. Those three being the last three on the circuit.
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If you have a loose connection that feeds that part of the circuit, something as simple as walking about on the floor above could nudge it to work again. The inrush of current from powering the light off then on again could also be enough to break the connection. A short arc at the loose connection causing enough local heating to move the wire again.
The former, or start investigating yourself. I would do it with some urgency wince what you have described could be a fire risk.
Just opening all the ceiling roses, and checking all the terminals are tight would be a good start. If that does not fix it, then a bit of investigating with a multimeter would be the next job - check to see if power gets to each fitting.
Depends on the type of spotlight, and also on the "strip". If these are small (typically MR16) spots that "plug in" to a strip, and where you can choose the position, say like:
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Then yes there probably will be a transformer somewhere.
If however this is a more "manufactured" light fitting that came with three spots fixed to it like:
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Then it probably does not. The type of lamp will tell you.
Mains fed MR16 lamps typically have a GU10 / GZ10 fitting with a base like:
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These fit in a bayonet style fitting that requires a push and twist action to insert the bulb.
The 12V low voltage version typically has a GX/GU 5.3 fitting:
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These are push fit. Sometimes the lamp fittings have metal guides to ensure the correct rotation when inserting the lamp.
It is a CU (and arguably a "fuse box" is also a CU).
The Mem would normally be fitted with MCBs. Has your's got cartridge fuse carriers instead?
Typically a fuse carrier can fit into a MCB space, but has a door that hinges down to allow access to the fuse. For example, the rightmost way in this small CU is a fuse carrier:
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