Ceiling lights flicker when turned on

[Weymark]

Hi

Our first floor ceiling lights are all on the same circuit on the breaker board. The have started flickering sometimes when turned on. The flickering will last up to 5 second then the light will turn on and be fine. Sometimes when another light is turned on within the same circuit all of the others will dim momentarily.

This issue does not happen all of the time, but has happened on all of the lights at various times, and when using all of the switches on the circuit.

All of the fixtures and switches have been checked, and are ok. I believe that the next step may be to start lifting flooring to look at wiring.

I would welcome any advice on possible solutions to try, and I want to try and avoid ripping up floors, should we just live with the flickering, or does this sound like a safety issue?

Thanks

 

[Pete999]

Hi

Our first floor ceiling lights are all on the same circuit on the breaker board. The have started flickering sometimes when turned on. The flickering will last up to 5 second then the light will turn on and be fine. Sometimes when another light is turned on within the same circuit all of the others will dim momentarily.

This issue does not happen all of the time, but has happened on all of the lights at various times, and when using all of the switches on the circuit.

All of the fixtures and switches have been checked, and are ok. I believe that the next step may be to start lifting flooring to look at wiring.

I would welcome any advice on possible solutions to try, and I want to try and avoid ripping up floors, should we just live with the flickering, or does this sound like a safety issue?

Thanks

How have you come to the conclusion that all the fitting and fixtures are OK?

 

[Specialist]

Sounds like you may have loose connections somewhere, possibly in the consumer unit.
To be honest, you'd be best advised to call a good local Sparks to check it out for you.

 

[Weymark]

How have you come to the conclusion that all the fitting and fixtures are OK?

We had our usual electrician in to look at the problem. Of course the lights didn't flicker when he came in, but he did spot check all of the fixtures and said there were no issues. Given that we still have flickering lights i was just keen for advice on whether we should be concerned?

 

[Squid]

What lamps do you have fitted?

 

[Rpa07]

Just the first floor ceiling and not the whole house lights? What type of lamp are they - filament, compact Florey, halogen or LED?

 

[GMES]

What lamps do you have fitted?

Flickering ones mate keep up will ya

 

[Squid]

Flickering ones mate keep up will ya

Must be Hue's new product line then.........

 

[Marvo]

..........Given that we still have flickering lights i was just keen for advice on whether we should be concerned?

Not sure why your electrician would leave without finding the problem. Flickering is highly likely to be a poor connection and poor connections are always a fire risk so I would be concerned and I'd suggest you percivere and find the problem.

 

[Weymark]

What lamps do you have fitted?

I think that I just have 60w bayonets in all of the fittings on the circuit, but not home to check right now. What were your thoughts on this?

 

[Weymark]

Just the first floor ceiling and not the whole house lights? What type of lamp are they - filament, compact Florey, halogen or LED?

That's right, just first floor. Standard Halogens, with the exception of the bathroom LED spots, but these haven't seemed to flicker.

 

[Rpa07]

240volt or extra low voltage with transformers?

 

[Squid]

I think that I just have 60w bayonets in all of the fittings on the circuit, but not home to check right now. What were your thoughts on this?

Not sure why the other light dim but sometimes a lamp can "flicker" before it pops. Not sure what checks your sparks carried but the the flex from the ceiling rose to the BC can become damaged/loose/frayed etc

 

[Weymark]

240volt or extra low voltage with transformers?

240v - the bayonet lamps are just bog standard supermarket jobbies.

 

[Rpa07]

I'd go with post #3 consumer unit tightness check. Did the electrician go into the board or just the fittings?

 

[Weymark]

I'd go with post #3 consumer unit tightness check. Did the electrician go into the board or just the fittings?

He did everything, the board, the box on the outside of the wall and all fittings. I believe he also checked for voltage fluctuations. Hence he is now suggesting that he will need to life the flooring above to look into it more. How likely is it that we will find something away from the fixtures though? Lifting floors will certainly cause chaos, which I would love to try and avoid.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

It depends how it's wired. If all joints can be accessed at lights and switches then the problem should be traceable without lifting floors. If joints are in boxes under the floor then these will need to be accessed.
Randomly lifting the floor will not solve anything. A logical approach is required.

 

[Weymark]

I'd go with post #3 consumer unit tightness check. Did the electrician go into the board or just the fittings?

He did everything, the board, the box on the outside of the wall and all fittings. I believe he also checked for voltage fluctuations. Hence he is now suggesting that he will need to life the flooring above to look into it more. How likely is it that we will find something away from the fixtures though? Lifting floors will certainly cause chaos, which I would love to try and avoid.

Thanks, we will have to call the pro back in. It might also be worth noting that the white surround of the lamp holders are discouloured brown on this circuit. They have been like it for the year we have lived in the home and have not got any worse, but don't know if this is symptomatic of an issue, or just normal wear and tear.

 

[Pete999]

We had our usual electrician in to look at the problem. Of course the lights didn't flicker when he came in, but he did spot check all of the fixtures and said there were no issues. Given that we still have flickering lights i was just keen for advice on whether we should be concerned?

"Usual Electrician" is that a proper Electrician or some Bod that thinks he is an Electrician?

 

[Pete999]

He did everything, the board, the box on the outside of the wall and all fittings. I believe he also checked for voltage fluctuations. Hence he is now suggesting that he will need to life the flooring above to look into it more. How likely is it that we will find something away from the fixtures though? Lifting floors will certainly cause chaos, which I would love to try and avoid.

Get a proper qualified Spark in with the correct test gear, and the right approach to fault finding.

 

[Specialist]

We had our usual electrician in to look at the problem. Of course the lights didn't flicker when he came in, but he did spot check all of the fixtures and said there were no issues. Given that we still have flickering lights i was just keen for advice on whether we should be concerned?

Did he check the connections in the consumer unit ?, That would have been my first check if you'd called me out and told me that all your lights were flickering.

If as you say the lamp holders are gone brown, then they have been overheated. Possibly by someone using high wattage bulbs in the past or just cheap lamp holders. Easy enough to resolve.

 

[Squid]

As mentioned by others get someone decent in and check form the CSU no floorboards should need to be lifted as the cable runs from the CSU to the ceiling rose and to the next one from the ceiling rose to the switch so it should be standard wiring without anything jointed elsewhere.

Unless you live in some Stately home in between St James Park and Victoria......

 

[Dave OCD]

It could even be the connection between the circuit MCB and busbar or an internal fault causing intermittent resistance in the MCB itself.