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Discuss Light blew, flipped switch, replaced switch/fuse but still no lights... help! in the The Welcome Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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BenSW19

Hello friends,

I own a shop in Wimbledon and upon entering the shop I turned on the light switches when one of the bulbs blew out and shorted all of the wall and ceiling lights of the shop. Electrical wall plugs still working but all lights are not working even after flipping the switch that got flipped off, and also after replacing the switch which presumably has a fuse inside.

It being the bank holiday weekend there are no electricians available to help... can anyone please provide me some insights/guidance on how I might be able to fix this myself?

Many thanks in advance.

Ben
 
Probably tripped the RCD at the CU location, just a guess. Reason? may be a lamp went US
 
Thanks gentlemen! Please pardon me as I google (translate) what your response means and try to make sense of your very kind reply!
 
Okay I now understand what an RCD is, but there is no RCD on the switch. I can't seem to figure out what CU location is (sorry!)
 
Thanks gentlemen! Please pardon me as I google (translate) what your response means and try to make sense of your very kind reply!
Go to the CU (fuse board) see if the main switch RCD is in the OFF position, its entirely possible that switching the office lights on when you came in this morning, a lamp had failed and caused a fault, which only came to light when you restored power, try and switch the lights off, and if the RCD has tripped switch it on, if it was a faulty lamp and the lights are off you should be able to identify the dud lamp and replace it, good luck.
 
Thanks again. I do have another question: If our CU doesn't have an RCD on any of the switches, is it possible that ALL of them are now blown? Only one of the switches was flipped down after the light initially blew.
 
It is possible the mcb (switch) has failed internally, does it feel the same as the others when you turn it on and off.
 
Thanks again. I do have another question: If our CU doesn't have an RCD on any of the switches, is it possible that ALL of them are now blown? Only one of the switches was flipped down after the light initially blew.
That was more than likely a circuit breaker, A typical CU by today standard would have 2 RCDs and however many circuit breakers depends on how many circuits you have, typically in a house 1 RCD would cover, say cooker 1 socket circuit 1 lighting circuit the other RCD would cover 1 Shower, 1 socket circuit and 1 lighting circuit. That's a basic design of course all houses are not the same so the number of circuits would vary. I it wasn't a lamp causing the problem it could be a wiring problem, don't try and mess with it yourself get an Electrician in, shouldn't be that difficult to find the fault, said me with my fingers crossed behind my back.Typical Consumers Unit Layout of - - Yahoo Image Search Results - https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEV7oFD_JYED0A36MnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Typical+Consumers+Unit+Layout+of&fr=yhs-mozilla-102&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-102#id=3&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eec247.com%2Femergency%2F17th_ed_board_type_2.jpg&action=click
 
Thanks gents. I changed the 4th switch from the left as that was the only switch that was flipped. The RCD all the way to the right was not flipped.

Light blew, flipped switch, replaced switch/fuse but still no lights... help! fuxebox - EletriciansForums.net
 
Oh I thought the large switch all the way to the right may have been the RCD but I guess not... indeed this is only for the lights and the only other board is a separate main switch
 
I agree with Andy there must be another board judging by the supply cable of the board you have posted a pic of.
 

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