Five lights don't work

[Ian1981]

Five ceiling lights do not work upstairs in my house. Two ceiling lights upstairs do work and all the ceiling lights downstairs work. The lights that don't work are:

Master bedroom
Dressing room
Master bedroom on suite
Landing light
Second bedroom (on same side of house as master bedroom)

The lights upstairs in bedroom 3 and main bathroom (located on other side of house work).

I switched the light off in the dressing room earlier and there was an odd sound. I checked the fuse box and the switch labelled "upstairs lights" had tripped. I reset the switch, however the lights still don't work in the affected bedrooms - sockets work as normal in the affected rooms.

I took all the bulbs out of the affected lights and tried fitting a bulb that was working from bedroom 3 into each affected light, which made no difference i.e. they would not work. When putting the bulb back into the light in bedroom 3 it worked.

What could the issue be? Are there any other steps i could take before i call an electrician? would this be covered under home insurance? The house is 22 years; i have lived here 10.5 years and have had no problems.

 

[JohnD]

From your description, the most likely cause is a loose wire burnt out in one of the ceiling roses.

The way UK ceiling lights are usually wired, the supply cable enters one rose, supplies that lamp, then continues on to the next rose.

The lamps in a house are arranged in a string, not in a ring.

A bad connection at one point can cause supply to be lost to all lamps further along the string.

The fault might have been triggered when an incandescent bulb (especially a spotlight) burned out causing a momentary surge which lost connection at a weak or loose point.

If you know which room is the likely culprit, start with that (though it might be at the preceding rose).

I am assuming you have ordinary pendant lamps unless you say otherwise.

You can probably clean up the loose wire and put it back into its terminal, tightening it well. If the copper looks scorched by heat, you may have to nip off the damaged end and use fresh bright copper.

Do not disconnect any wires in a lighting circuit without marking and photographing them so you can replace each in exactly the same place. Colour is not a reliable indicator.

Lighting circuits are live even when the switch is off so you must isolate at the consumer unit before starting work.