Quote: beaky @ 13th September 2014, 9:12 PM BST

I've a feeling we're coming to the punchline...

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Ok, famous people that were electricians.

Wire Terp
Clark Cable
And plug from the bash street kids.

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 14th September 2014, 12:09 AM BST

Ok, famous people that were electricians.

Wire Terp
Clark Cable
And plug from the bash street kids.

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You've set me off thinking of some now .......

Quote: A Horseradish @ 13th September 2014, 8:55 PM BST

Right. Thank you. I worked through the description steadily and understood every word. I also feel it is what I have done though in a more basic way. My main feeling is that it isn't a fuse problem because other lighting on the same circuit works. So could there be anything between a decent fuse and the fitting that could be preventing the flow? I have heard of shorting but I don't know what causes it. Could it be that?

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A short would blow the fuse, and then you would have no lights on at all, what you have is an open circuit where something is basically not connected with that one light.

If you are happy with the bulb holder (it's a pity you don't have some sort of meter you can check it with ?) then the next thing to check is the ceiling rose, and if it is not in there then you will have to call in an electrician as even I wouldn't go any further after checking those basics. It does seem odd though and I still think it is in your light fitting.

So, making sure there is no power going to it via the fuse box as mentioned previous, unscrew the ceiling rose cap (anti-clockwise - it is two bits - the cap and the fitting that is fixed to the ceiling) and check that the brown and blue wires are connected properly. It maybe that the fitting has been tugged at sometime and one of the wires has come out or one of the little brass screws is not tightened up enough - seen that many a time!

It may well be that the rose has been over painted over the years so you will obviously need to scrape that off or run a Stanley knife around the join to break the paint seal. Only gently mind!

Pluggs

Quote: sootyj @ 14th September 2014, 9:25 AM BST

Pluggs

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Nah, that doesn't work - you've just added a 'g' and pretended that it is somebody.

Supermans enemy Flex Luthor.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 14th September 2014, 9:25 AM BST

A short would blow the fuse, and then you would have no lights on at all, what you have is an open circuit where something is basically not connected with that one light.

If you are happy with the bulb holder (it's a pity you don't have some sort of meter you can check it with ?) then the next thing to check is the ceiling rose, and if it is not in there then you will have to call in an electrician as even I wouldn't go any further after checking those basics. It does seem odd though and I still think it is in your light fitting.

So, making sure there is no power going to it via the fuse box as mentioned previous, unscrew the ceiling rose cap (anti-clockwise - it is two bits - the cap and the fitting that is fixed to the ceiling) and check that the brown and blue wires are connected properly. It maybe that the fitting has been tugged at sometime and one of the wires has come out or one of the little brass screws is not tightened up enough - seen that many a time!

It may well be that the rose has been over painted over the years so you will obviously need to scrape that off or run a Stanley knife around the join to break the paint seal. Only gently mind!

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Why, good morning HGT. I have just been on the jelly bone speaking to an electrician. He was on his mobile so although he is only round the corner, he was accompanied by the Clangers. Nevertheless, I did manage just about to hear what he said. He agrees with you, not that I gave him your description to be fair to you.

He thinks it is the light fitting or if not the rose. A 10 minute job on the way home from work so if I decide on a call out just to give him a day's notice. But I got the impression he wasn't overly keen. Probably has bigger fish to fry. So I may well have a go at those things myself as I am very clear about switching the electrics off first. I've already had the switch off the wall this morning and those connections seem alright.

As soon as we crack it, we'll be able to go back to the soapy water. I'm feeling quite excited already.

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 14th September 2014, 9:52 AM BST

Supermans enemy Flex Luthor.

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Now that's more like it, but I suspect being a sparks, you have a wealth of them.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 14th September 2014, 9:54 AM BST

Why, good morning HGT. I have just been on the jelly bone speaking to an electrician. He was on his mobile so although he is only round the corner, he was accompanied by the Clangers. Nevertheless, I did manage just about to hear what he said. He agrees with you, not that I gave him your description to be fair to you.

He thinks it is the light fitting or if not the rose. A 10 minute job on the way home from work so if I decide on a call out just to give him a day's notice. But I got the impression he wasn't overly keen. Probably has bigger fish to fry. So I may well have a go at those things myself as I am very clear about switching the electrics off first. I've already had the switch off the wall this morning and those connections seem alright.

As soon as we crack it, we'll be able to go back to the soapy water. I'm feeling quite excited already.

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Well, I've always enjoyed DIY. Therapeutic and satisfaction when the job is done - you do or you don't. That's it

Glad the electrician agreed with me. . I can't see how it can be anything else as everything else (under floorboards, in the attic) is static and the only way that can change is if you have interfered with that in anyway. The fact that it is just the one light means to me that it has got to be that fitting.
Well, if you have checked the switch, it is no more complicated just to whip the lid off that rose and check what I said. Again, as with the holder, the brown and blue wires should be wrapped around the support lugs to prevent the wire being pulled out, and it is quite common for people to miss this or not bother to do it when they fit a completely new light fitting.

The only other thing it could be, but this is highly unlikely is that there is an open circuit in the short piece of wire that goes between the rose and the light fitting. I have seen this in the past, which could be caused by somebody yanking on the light fitting very hard, but as I say unlikely.

This is where you need a meter to check it or replace the entire thing.

I'm poised with sponge in hand.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 14th September 2014, 10:15 AM BST

Now that's more like it, but I suspect being a sparks, you have a wealth of them.

Well, I've always enjoyed DIY. Therapeutic and satisfaction when the job is done - you do or you don't. That's it

Glad the electrician agreed with me. . I can't see how it can be anything else as everything else (under floorboards, in the attic) is static and the only way that can change is if you have interfered with that in anyway. The fact that it is just the one light means to me that it has got to be that fitting.
Well, if you have checked the switch, it is no more complicated just to whip the lid off that rose and check what I said. Again, as with the holder, the brown and blue wires should be wrapped around the support lugs to prevent the wire being pulled out, and it is quite common for people to miss this or not bother to do it when they fit a completely new light fitting.

The only other thing it could be, but this is highly unlikely is that there is an open circuit in the short piece of wire that goes between the rose and the light fitting. I have seen this in the past, which could be caused by somebody yanking on the light fitting very hard, but as I say unlikely.

This is where you need a meter to check it or replace the entire thing.

I'm poised with sponge in hand.

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Thank you - and useful.

(Unfortunately, no meter)

But floorboards?

I don't have any of that old rubbish.

It's strictly solid floors here, mate.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 14th September 2014, 10:26 AM BST

Thank you - and useful.

(Unfortunately, no meter)

But floorboards?

I don't have any of that old rubbish.

It's strictly solid floors here, mate.

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Don't dis floorboards - they're great if you need to check a small area - such as electric wiring

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 14th September 2014, 10:31 AM BST

Don't dis floorboards - they're great if you need to check a small area - such as electric wiring

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You have been generous with your time HGT. Unfortunately, I'm at a roadblock. I took the holder off the working light in one bedroom and tried it in bedroom two. The light in bedroom two still didn't work. The holder is back on the light in the first bedroom. In the second, I now just have wire as I haven't replaced that holder. There seems little point as it doesn't work. But for safety reasons, I've got the two wires stretching away from each other so that they aren't touching. They were in that position once before.

Having checked on the wall switch early on today, I unscrewed the rose and understood what you meant by nine wires. I can't see anything that is obviously wrong with either - there do not appear to be any loose wires or burn out - but then I don't know if any problem would be visible. What I do know is that I wouldn't want to tackle a rose in any technical way. Both the wall switch and rose are back in their proper positions.

It is odd how people vary on what they find therapeutic. I have hated every moment of it. Being stuck up a ladder trying to stick wire through holes that are barely visible to the eye. They could have used that technique at Guantanamo Bay. Whatever people there had done, they wouldn't have repeated it. I have little problem with heights and know that the electric is safe when it is switched off. But just in trying to do that for quarter of an hour, I got some sort of mild spasm from the shoulder which led to my hand shaking.

Since this latest operation failure - I've been here several times before - I have been reminded why D-I-Y electronics is on paper appealing. It is that there are very few things in life that are more difficult but one is trying to obtain the services of an electrician. I went back to the original bloke and got an answering device. The message that I left has not been returned. Then I went through about six other numbers and no one was there. That too has a sense of deja vu about it. It always staggers me how no one wants to make it easy to receive customers' money. Often it feels like they make themselves unavailable because in their heads they do what they do voluntarily. I assume that they have more money than they need already.

Of course, it is a Sunday and it is tempting to think that it is the worst day to try to speak to someone. But I know from experience that there never is a good day because for the rest of the week they are working. It is beginning to feel like a maze from which there is no exit. The word exasperation doesn't do it full justice. And I'm also aware that there is another strand of thought at the back of my mind. While I don't fully trust myself to get it right, I am starting to question whether the house would be any safer if the work was undertaken by any Joe Bloggs who claims to have qualifications. I can see again why I have left it so long.

No probs. - happy to pass on the knowledge.

Well, if you have tried a bulb holder that works (well done for the detective work!), then it has to be that short length of cable between the rose and the holder. What you should have tried while you had the rose off was just tug at the brown and blue wires to see if they were loose and (B) tweak tighten the respective screws. That would have eliminated that possibility

If they are OK then replace that short length of rose/holder cable, but as said previous it is very unusual if that has got a break in it and has gone open circuit.

If you had got through to an electrician on a Sunday they might not have appreciated it, I find the best time to ring up is about 6 pm, when they should be home from their work - providing they are not having their tea or dinner though!! >_<

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 14th September 2014, 9:05 PM BST

No probs. - happy to pass on the knowledge.

Well, if you have tried a bulb holder that works (well done for the detective work!), then it has to be that short length of cable between the rose and the holder. What you should have tried while you had the rose off was just tug at the brown and blue wires to see if they were loose and (B) tweak tighten the respective screws. That would have eliminated that possibility

If they are OK then replace that short length of rose/holder cable, but as said previous it is very unusual if that has got a break in it and has gone open circuit.

If you had got through to an electrician on a Sunday they might not have appreciated it, I find the best time to ring up is about 6 pm, when they should be home from their work - providing they are not having their tea or dinner though!! >_<

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Thanks for the latest. Have now tried another electrician as nothing from the first. No 2 was taking his kids swimming and would ring me back in an hour and a half. When I asked him if he needed the number he said that it had "appeared". So I said "oh so you know that it is......" and left a long pause. He replied "it's just gone off so I don't know". I read it out to him but as he was driving, he will be relying just on his memory.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 15th September 2014, 5:14 PM BST

Thanks for the latest. Have now tried another electrician as nothing from the first. No 2 was taking his kids swimming and would ring me back in an hour and a half. When I asked him if he needed the number he said that it had "appeared". So I said "oh so you know that it is......" and left a long pause. He replied "it's just gone off so I don't know". I read it out to him but as he was driving, he will be relying just on his memory.

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Doomed! Yer doomed laddie!!

Have you considered candles for that room?

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 14th September 2014, 9:32 AM BST

Nah, that doesn't work - you've just added a 'g' and pretended that it is somebody.

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Suggs lead singer of madness combined with the word plug

it's very simplicity makes it work

rather like your goodself I suspect