Light troubles

[lukemfoster]

Hi there - I'm new to this site, I came across via google whilst searching for help!

First off. I'm a 22 year old stock broker so I hardly know anything about DIY!

My girlfriends father kindly installed 2 halogen lights(GU10 240v) in my living room, I took note and decided to fit a halogen fitting(g4 12v) in my bedroom.

Me being an idiot messed up the wires.... and tripped the fuse.

Here's problem one: When I try to flip the lights mains back on it sometimes does not "click" in.. and the fuse just flicks back down. If I try about 10 times it stays, is this OK? (kind worried).


Secondly, after playing around a bit I got the light to work fine. It has been fine for about a month now along with other lights.

But in the last few days 5 of the GU10 bulbs have blown in the living room. And all 10 small halogen bulbs(g4) have blown in the bedroom (causing the fuse to trip). All other lights in the house work fine.

Could this be a fault with my rubbish wiring? Is it possible that I got the lights to work, even though they were not correctly wired?

 

[ericmark]

Question is “What flicks down” not a fuse as once blown they stay blown so could be a MCB (Mixture circuit breaker normally marked B6 etc.) or RCD (Residual current device has a test button) or RCBO (Residual circuit breaker with Overload combines first two into one unit).
If it is a MCB which fails to reset then this could be due to inrush and be caused because you have left the lights on and it is trying to switch them all on together rather than one at a time.
If a RCD then could be some filters faulty often found in inverters used for extra low voltage lights often referred to as transformers.
RCBO is combination of the two.
Lose connections can cause bulbs to blow but more likely due to voltage variations although I would have hoped the g4 bulbs inverter would have protected the bulb.
But without a crystal ball working out why yours failed would only be guesswork.
Eric

 

[lukemfoster]

it is an MCB.

Thank you for your response...

Is there a chance that the actual wires are correctly connected? Like I say all lights work etc, but can they be connected incorrectly and still work? Could this cause a surge of power or anything which may short circuit the lights/cause bulbs to blow etc?

Apologies for my ignorance

 

[ericmark]

All sorts can be done incorrectly but in the main either shock hazard or fire are the result with a few dim lights thrown in. But intermittent MCB tripping and blowing bulbs are rarely caused by incorrect wiring more like lose connections if anything. MCB tripping can be overloading but the lights in any normal house would look like Christmas gone wrong before overloading would come in.
If you add the watts of all bulbs together they should be less than 1380 Watts which equals 6 amp.
Eric

 

[lukemfoster]

O god, hopefully I don't return to a burnt down house!

the thing is. How would I know correctly without literally following the wires through the ceiling etc?

Like I say allt he lights are working fine.. and it has been fine for a month.. its just the bulbs that have blown? Should I assume that the bulbs are the only issue.

On the fusebox(or whatever it's called now) the lights switch stays up unless there is a trip... but when there is a trip, it takes forever to actually turn them back on again - Sometimes I have to keep flicking it on untill it finally sticks so to speak.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I think you need an electrician....

 

[ericmark]

As a professional before I add a light I have to ensure the supply is good enough and I use meters to test this and I use a thick book called BS 7671:2008 or 17th Edition to guide me as to what is permitted in the main there is no problem in adding extra lights but for me to tell you with out seeing the work don’t worry that’s fine would be irresponsible.
I would think either lose connection or too many lights is only likely cause of your problem. Lights use more power to switch them on than run and if we used a single switch to switch on all lights it would likely overload for a few milli seconds and trip the MCB. This is why I think it is hard to reset in that you have lights still switched on when you try to reset.
As to lose connections only you know if there may be lose connections. I did go to one new house with some odd faults and it turned out the main fuse box had been supplied with MCB’s already fitted so the electrician had not checked the screws connecting the MCB’s to the main buss bar as he had not fitted them but the whole sale guy had only put them in the unit and had not tightened up the screws there was a big notice to check ALL screws but this had been missed so easy to do. I was called to the house because telephone did not work correctly. There is no way I would ever have guessed this fault. I would not for one minuet expect you have same fault but if you can’t find a fault and you think they is something wrong the only way is to get someone in. To me one has to work out your own limitations and decide if you need to call someone.
Eric