How to test a ceiling lights with a plug socket

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alitech

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Hi guys

Please don't kill me. I am not an electrician and this is possibly the very simplest of questions you will read today.

I got a custom light fitting created for me and I wanted to test it without having to get it installed on the ceiling first. There are a few bulb options and I wanted to see which bulb would look best on there which is why I wanted to test it.

I took the wires and put them into a UK plug, and put it into the socket. It doesn't work. Can someone please guide me on how I can test this? Is there anything additional I need to do with the wires for it to work with a plug socket?

Thanks
 
alitech said:
Hi guys

Please don't kill me. I am not an electrician and this is possibly the very simplest of questions you will read today.

I got a custom light fitting created for me and I wanted to test it without having to get it installed on the ceiling first. There are a few bulb options and I wanted to see which bulb would look best on there which is why I wanted to test it.

I took the wires and put them into a UK plug, and put it into the socket. It doesn't work. Can someone please guide me on how I can test this? Is there anything additional I need to do with the wires for it to work with a plug socket?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Fuse blown? a picture might throw some light on the problem, sorry for the pun.
 
best use a BS1363 plug.
shopping


not a
s-l225.jpg
 
Adam W said:
Have you tried the bulb in a different light to make sure it works?
Click to expand...

Yes I have a number of bulbs and a number of these lights. I have tested a couple of lights with different bulbs, but its not working.

I suspect I am not doing it correctly. Do we need something additional in the circuit for the light to work? Like those lamp switches for eg?

Eg:

Light fitting with g9 bulb --- > Lamp switch ---> UK Plug ---> Plug socket

Currently, I have:

Light fitting with g9 bulb ---> UK Plug --> Plug socket
 
safe block.when open, the clip ins are off. just insert wires, then close lid.
 
alitech said:
Yes I have a number of bulbs and a number of these lights. I have tested a couple of lights with different bulbs, but its not working.

I suspect I am not doing it correctly. Do we need something additional in the circuit for the light to work? Like those lamp switches for eg?

Eg:

Light fitting with g9 bulb --- > Lamp switch ---> UK Plug ---> Plug socket

Currently, I have:

Light fitting with g9 bulb ---> UK Plug --> Plug socket
Click to expand...

You won’t need anything more than a correctly fitted plug to make it work.
 
alitech said:
I got a custom light fitting created for me and I wanted to test it without having to get it installed on the ceiling first.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, who 'created' this for you? Where they an electrician? Did you pay for the light?
 
ere we go again...bulb/lamp....did edison invent the light lamp? did florence nightingale carry a lamp?
 
Have you got it working yet mate?
 
You need a two probe voltage tester, or a multimeter to test this and find out where the fault is.
Do you have a multimeter? If not, get yourself down to Maplin before it closes. There will be some going cheap..
 
Adam W said:
This is why we need a picture - for all we know OP could have put a rubber bath plug on the end of the flex and a flowering garden bulb in the fitting :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Now that would be a pretty picture.
 
Adam W said:
I'm still hoping someone will come along and bail them out - there's nowhere else like Maplin on the high street where you can buy the sort of stuff they sold.
Click to expand...
went in maplin's a couple of years ago. a 2.0AH alarm battery, usually about a tenner in wholesaler's... maplins price £39. 95. now that is taking the pi$$. no wonder they've gone bust.
 
Last edited:
and Ryanair charge 2 and a half euros for a small tub of pringles, but when you're a little bit peckish and stuck in a metal tube at 30,000' what are you going to do?
 
Adam W said:
and Ryanair charge 2 and a half euros for a small tub of pringles, but when you're a little bit peckish and stuck in a metal tube at 30,000' what are you going to do?
Click to expand...
Answer: take your own, bought from Tesco before the flight, been there Mate, know where you are coming from.
 
Pete999 said:
Answer: take your own, bought from Tesco before the flight, been there Mate, know where you are coming from.
Click to expand...
Personally I don't get the obsession with having to eat on a short haul flight (unless you have a medical condition of course) - worst case scenario you can eat at the airport, wait a couple of hours then eat at your destination airport. Maybe have a beer on the plane just because you can, but the point is your small can of beer costs 4 quid because they've got you by the short and curlies - it's not like you can nip out to the shop.

Same with Maplin - if you need a couple of resistors in a hurry, you need a fuse at 3pm on a Sunday, or a couple of metres of equipment wire, then you pay extra for the convenience. They might not be quite as bad as RS but Maplin's prices are pretty exorbitant; it is however reassuring to have them there if ever I need them.
 
My take on the flight eating/drinking thing is that when I fly, say, Ryanair, it's usually on my own, off-season from Edinburgh to Barcelona...with a return fare of £60 (£45 last time) I feel quite happy to buy a beverage or two...Can't get a return taxi to Glasgow for that from my house! (8 miles away)
 
Post a pic of the fitting itself. It hasn't got a switch built into it somewhere has it? A small push/pull or something?
 
Maplin used to be ideal when it was more aimed at electronics hobbyists, ie. before it became a copy of Tandy selling radio control cars and clocks.

At the head office at Wombwell (near Barnsley for any southerners out there) they had a trade counter that the public could use (if that makes sense!?).

The catalogue used to be a good source of reference as well. In the days when it had pages and pages of IC data, etc. ie. before it became a glossy Tandy catalogue full of radio control cars and clocks.

And don't forget the excellent artwork on the covers.

I've done reminiscing now!
 
ok people, i will get a fuse from the shops today
DPG said:
Post a pic of the fitting itself. It hasn't got a switch built into it somewhere has it? A small push/pull or something?
Click to expand...
No other switch, its supposed to be a ceiling light so connected to the mains.

I just want to test it
 
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