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any sparks on here?

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any sparks on here?

Big Black Stilo

Big Black Stilo

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i think i may have wired a light incorrectly.

the living room light used to be one of those multiple bulb jobbies and was far to bright and big for the room, so we binned it off and i just put in a single pendant light. it also ran off a dimmer switch, still in place for the time being (till B&Q get the matching switches in stock for my plugs)

i wired in the single pendant light and put in a 60w bulb from another room, and the light is crap, it looks like a 15w bulb at that. its so dark at night you cant see the pattern on the wallpaper. (because of the dimmer im using energy eater bulbs)

I am like i said binning off the dimmer, the light has been wired the same as the old light (same coloured wire from ceiling going to same colour on the light) with two blck wires (fed together (the loop i believe) in the centre in the loop.

anyone any ideas?

i may add i have done this in another house and not had this problem.


and please no 'shed some light on the situation' puns please!!!!!
 
Big Black Stilo said:
i think i may have wired a light incorrectly.

the living room light used to be one of those multiple bulb jobbies and was far to bright and big for the room, so we binned it off and i just put in a single pendant light. it also ran off a dimmer switch, still in place for the time being (till B&Q get the matching switches in stock for my plugs)

i wired in the single pendant light and put in a 60w bulb from another room, and the light is crap, it looks like a 15w bulb at that. its so dark at night you cant see the pattern on the wallpaper. (because of the dimmer im using energy eater bulbs)

I am like i said binning off the dimmer, the light has been wired the same as the old light (same coloured wire from ceiling going to same colour on the light) with two blck wires (fed together (the loop i believe) in the centre in the loop.

anyone any ideas?

i may add i have done this in another house and not had this problem.


and please no 'shed some light on the situation' puns please!!!!!
Click to expand...






What was the 'multi bulb jobbie' that you replaced?
Was it a fitting with a few std fitting incandescent light bulbs in or one of those fittings with multiple low voltage downlights in?
 
Big Black Stilo said:
a fitting with a five standard fitting incandescent light bulbs running at 40w bulbs. when only 1 40w bulb in it it was brighter than the 60w single thing i have now
Click to expand...

So it had 5 40W 230V bulbs in and all you've done is put a single 60W 230V in place of it?

There should obviously be more than enough capacity there if thats the case. Could be a problem with the dimmer, can you bypass that?

Apart from that if you have the right voltage replacement bulb it should work because the current load is far less with just the single.
 
I dont know anything about 230v but the old fitting didnt have some kind of transformer pushed up into the ceiling that you didnt know about. Do you have a multi meter to see what resistance and power you are geting.
 
volxstu said:
I dont know anything about 230v but the old fitting didnt have some kind of transformer pushed up into the ceiling that you didnt know about. Do you have a multi meter to see what resistance and power you are geting.
Click to expand...

Thats what I was getting at, but the fittings that use transformers are low voltage or LV downlights which run at 12V from the transformer....He says he replaced a multi incandescent fitting with just one incandescent pendant, which should both be 230V, so should work.

Make sure you are using the same voltage fittings and if possible try and bypass the dimmer to see if that helps.
 
im going to pilfer the light switch from the bedroom and put the dimmer on that and see what happens. there was no transformer in the ceiling.

I personally think its the dimmer, i mean can you fiddle with them so you can make a bright light always go to a lower maximum?

in the dining room we have a similar fitting but with three bulbs, again on a dimmer, and it is bright on just the 1 60w bulb.

someone blamed the lamp shade but i dont think its that as i can easily stare at the bulb in the living room whereas the dining room, you cant coz its bright.
 


....but seriously :D

In the rose you will have a common live a common neutral and a switch drop. I think you may have got one side of the switch drop wired into the common neutral in the rose instead of the common live. This arrangement would give you a significant voltage drop across the bulb and cause it to dim.

Check the connections in the rose, should look like this......



The loop in and loop out cables A and B will both be black and red, the cable used for the switch drop C might have 2 red conductors or a red and black with a red sleeve....thats what the regs say anyway.
 
No I am not a spark, at least not officialy, besides that I am far to good looking to be even considered as one :D

To try and phrase it more simply I believe you may have wired the fitting so that it is in series with all the other fittings in the house rather than parallel. Instead of being switched across Live and Neutral you may have connected it so it is across Live and live......do wierd things happen to the other lights in the house when you turn them on and off?
 
Hi, as mentioned by The Unknown before, make sure u are using the old type 60w bulb as the new energy saver ones can't be used with dimmer switches, saying that they are available but very expensive.
 
I agree it sounds like it's wired wrong, but step 1 should be to take the bulb out and try it in another light or a table lamp first...

Some diagrams or descriptions of what's inside the ceiling rose would be useful.
 
sledge said:
No I am not a spark, at least not officialy, besides that I am far to good looking to be even considered as one :D

To try and phrase it more simply I believe you may have wired the fitting so that it is in series with all the other fittings in the house rather than parallel. Instead of being switched across Live and Neutral you may have connected it so it is across Live and live......do wierd things happen to the other lights in the house when you turn them on and off?
Click to expand...

nothing weird happens to any other lights in the house when switching this on and off

inki said:
Hi, as mentioned by The Unknown before, make sure u are using the old type 60w bulb as the new energy saver ones can't be used with dimmer switches, saying that they are available but very expensive.
Click to expand...

was using an old type 60w bulb, in living room dull as fook, in dining room, bright as fook.

Doofer said:
I agree it sounds like it's wired wrong, but step 1 should be to take the bulb out and try it in another light or a table lamp first...

Some diagrams or descriptions of what's inside the ceiling rose would be useful.
Click to expand...

one red wire and three black, two of which were joined together and i put them in the middle fitting of the new lamp, the single black to blue side and red to red.

this is how it was wired to the old fitting

I have removed the dimmer switch and fitted a normal light switch... no change.

i changed the 60w traditional bulb for a 25w energy saver and its not really that great either (as mentioned dull for 5 minutes)
 
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