Advice Needed - Lights blown after fitting

[Paul Haynes]

First off I'll say I'm not an electrician at all, I'm just a guy who bought a house and tried to fit new lights in the hallway. So I found that out of the two light sockets, one had the usual three wires (blue, brown and yellow/green) whilst the other had two of each of those wires, so 6 in total. I fitted both lights, but on the second one (with the 6 wires) I put two wires into each connector, without knowing any better. The lights worked for a few days, then one day I turned them on and there was a pop and they went off. The light switch I used has now fused (I think), basically it won't flick on and off anymore, it's just stuck. So I was going to call an electrician but in an attempt to save some money, is there an easy fix here, or an obvious reason as to what went wrong? I spoke to a friend who knows a bit about this and he suggested maybe I shouldn't have put two of each wire into the second light, and that some of those wires should have been marked up in some way (they weren't, beyond having two blue, two brown and two yellow/green).



Thanks for any advice

 

[SparkyChick]

If they worked once you'd completed the change over, it's likely that the failure is not your fault and from the sounds of it is more likely to be a result of a failure in the light itself. Are they low voltage lamps?

Don't suppose you have any photos of the before and after wiring?

 

[SparkyChick]

Either that or you didn't make a great job of connecting them, a cable has come loose and shorted out.

My advice would be to engage the services of a local electrician (preferably based on a recommendation from family, friends or colleagues). It sounds to me like it might be a simple enough task to fix it up and if you phoned me asking about this I'd probably quote you an hour of my time to investigate the fault.

 

[Spoon]

Welcome to the forum mate.
It does sound like the second light that has two cables toing to it is your problem.
Without checking, I would guess that one of the cables is for the power and the other is a cable going to the light switch.

 

[Paul Haynes]

I'm afraid I don't have any shots but I can disconnect this weekend potentially and take some if necessary. I got these bulbs, not sure if low voltage or not. The light fixtures are from Next, and each takes 3 of these bulbs:

LAKES E14 LED Filament Bulbs 4W, 350LM 40W Equivalent C35 Small Edison Screw (SES) Candle Light Bulbs, Soft White 2700K, 6-Pack

 

[Paul Haynes]

Welcome to the forum mate.
It does sound like the second light that has two cables toing to it is your problem.
Without checking, I would guess that one of the cables is for the power and the other is a cable going to the light switch.

Hi, and thanks. So I don't quite follow - there were 6 exposed wires in total, are you saying that only one of each of these was intended for the light, and the others are just to be taped up?

 

[Spoon]

Hi, and thanks. So I don't quite follow - there were 6 exposed wires in total, are you saying that only one of each of these was intended for the light, and the others are just to be taped up?

Hi Paul,
Please ignore my post above. If you connected like-for-like coloured cables together and the light were working then I'd go with @SparkyChick post above.

What I mean by 1 cable is this below. 1 cable = 3 cores or 3 wires

 

[Paul Haynes]

Hi Paul,
Please ignore my post above. If you connected like-for-like coloured cables together and the light were working then I'd go with @SparkyChick post above.

What I mean by 1 cable is this below. 1 cable = 3 cores or 3 wires
View attachment 45887

No problem, thanks. I have an electrician coming on Thursday next week but he wanted £60 for the hour. Maybe that's reasonable, just wanted to check if this is something I could easily fix myself first

 

[westward10]

May have screwed through a cable which didn't immediately create a short but it has now.

 

[Paul Haynes]

May have screwed through a cable which didn't immediately create a short but it has now.

I suppose I could test this if I re-connect the original hallway light. I assume if that still works then the wiring is ok, and maybe it was the fault of the new light?

 

[MDJ]

Taking photos now probably wont help, it is a shame you didn't take a photo before you took the old lights down, I have an idea what could be wrong but it could be exactly as sparky chick has said, unfortunately as we didn't know what the connections were before guessing is not an option. I hate this sentence but "Get a Spark in"

 

[Paul Haynes]

Alright, thanks for the help guys!

 

[telectrix]

£60 is a bit on the high side for a call out, but not unreasonable. up here we lucky to get away with £40.

 

[ipf]

I suppose I could test this if I re-connect the original hallway light. I assume if that still works then the wiring is ok, and maybe it was the fault of the new light?

Don't forget to lick your fingers before you test.....
Joking aside, it's not just a case of something operating or not, the safety aspect is even more important.
For the sake of a few quid call a local electrician whose qualified and could deal with the problem safely and quickly.
edit. Already done, I see.

 

[pyrotenax]

You have probably connected the switched live cable into neutral.

 

[Paul Haynes]

You have probably connected the switched live cable into neutral.

This sounds like what my friend was talking about (one of the wires should have been marked up differently?), please could you explain further as I don't know how I would have been able to tell the difference between the cables or the correct place to put them

 

[Spoon]

This sounds like what my friend was talking about (one of the wires should have been marked up differently?), please could you explain further as I don't know how I would have been able to tell the difference between the cables or the correct place to put them

Sorry mate, it's against forum rules to give out step-by-step guidance on here.

How The DIY Area Works And The Step By Step Guide Rule - https://www.electriciansforums.co.uk/threads/how-the-diy-area-works-and-the-step-by-step-guide-rule.99209/

 

[Paul Haynes]

You have probably connected the switched live cable into neutral.

This sounds like what my friend was talking about (one of the wires should have been marked up differently?), please could you explain further as I don't know how I would have been able to tell the difference between the cables or the correct place to put them

Sorry mate, it's against forum rules to give out step-by-step guidance on here.

How The DIY Area Works And The Step By Step Guide Rule - https://www.electriciansforums.co.uk/threads/how-the-diy-area-works-and-the-step-by-step-guide-rule.99209/

Oh ok. Didn't realise, thanks for the info anyway

 

[littlespark]

You have probably connected the switched live cable into neutral.

Sorry, Pyro. It cant be that. OP mentions it worked for a few days, then suddenly went pop.
Connecting the switched live to neutral causes a problem instantly, and normally comes with a bang rather than a pop

Paul, I think your description is fine, and you've got the cables connected into the right terminals. Both fittings in the hallway, both off the same switch.
One fitting has switch wire and neutral in, and switch wire and neutral out... the other has only one switch wire and neutral. Looped switch circuit... there's no looped live.

I do, however, think your friend is thinking along the same lines as Pyro. Has he seen the wiring or just imagining what its like? (is your friend an electrician?)

Its either a squashed cable that's just suddenly decided to short out, or an unrelated problem with the circuit that has just coincidently happened.

 

[Paul Haynes]

Sorry, Pyro. It cant be that. OP mentions it worked for a few days, then suddenly went pop.
Connecting the switched live to neutral causes a problem instantly, and normally comes with a bang rather than a pop

Paul, I think your description is fine, and you've got the cables connected into the right terminals. Both fittings in the hallway, both off the same switch.
One fitting has switch wire and neutral in, and switch wire and neutral out... the other has only one switch wire and neutral. Looped switch circuit... there's no looped live.

I do, however, think your friend is thinking along the same lines as Pyro. Has he seen the wiring or just imagining what its like? (is your friend an electrician?)

Its either a squashed cable that's just suddenly decided to short out, or an unrelated problem with the circuit that has just coincidently happened.

Good info thank you. My friend isn't an electrician by trade but I think has some qualifications as he has been known to carry out odd jobs for people. He was going to draw me a diagram of my circuit but never got around to it.
Sounds like I will just have to see what the guy says next week. But I just didn't want him to end up asking to stay for another hour and the whole thing costing me £120!