No lights in two upstairs room

[ben mcalpine]

Customer says the lights in two upstairs rooms have stopped working. I’ve checked the wall switches in both rooms and there is power to both but both wires in switch are showing current, operating the switches makes no difference? The rooms both have downlights so no ceiling roses to check, my first thought was a previous light in the circuit has been wired wrong but the RCBO has not tripped on this circuit

 

[Strima]

JB somewhere with a dodgy joint in it.

 

[ImpededLoop]

What's led up to the lights not working? Any work done elsewhere?

 

[Pete999]

JB somewhere with a dodgy joint in it.

Or a dodgy connection at a switch or lighting point!!

 

[rolyberkin]

Someone put a new light up, miswired at a prior light?

 

[ben mcalpine]

Or a dodgy connection at a switch or lighting point!!

Customer says no work done elsewhere, the lights are wired up whereby the switches operate the lights via a switch wire connected to the lights and not wired whereby the power goes through the switch. Why would I detect current on both sides of the switch wire when I’ve disconnected the switch

 

[SJD]

Why would I detect current on both sides of the switch wire when I’ve disconnected the switch

Do you mean "current" or actually voltage? If voltage, a broken neutral somewhere perhaps?

 

[ben mcalpine]

Customer says no work done elsewhere, the lights are wired up whereby the switches operate the lights via a switch wire connected to the lights and not wired whereby the power goes through the switch. Why would I detect current on both sides of the switch wire when I’ve disconnected the switch

Do you mean "current" or actually voltage? If voltage, a broken neutral somewhere perhaps?

I only had a short amount of time on Friday to check , back there tomorrow to investigate further. If there was a problem with the neutral wouldn’t this trip the RCBO?
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What's led up to the lights not working? Any work done elsewhere?

Customer said no work done elsewhere, they just stopped working
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Someone put a new light up, miswired at a prior light?

That’s what I thought at first but customer said nothing done. Both wires of switch wire showing as live at switch end, with switch disconnected

 

[ImpededLoop]

That’s what I thought at first but customer said nothing done. Both wires of switch wire showing as live at switch end, with switch disconnected

Sounds like a lost neutral.

 

[ben mcalpine]

Sounds like a lost neutral.

Wouldn’t the RCBO trip though as there would be an imbalance?

 

[westward10]

Forget rcbo issues you almost certainly have a lost connection on the loop circuit.

 

[ben mcalpine]

Forget rcbo issues you almost certainly have a lost connection on the loop circuit.

So would both wires of the switch wire show as live When disconnected from switch if there was broken neutral?

 

[westward10]

You need to be doing some dead continuity tests.

 

[ben mcalpine]

You need to be doing some dead continuity tests.

That’s going to be my next step,dead testing. Just puzzled as to why I detect both wires at switch as live when not connected to switch

 

[James]

That’s going to be my next step,dead testing. Just puzzled as to why I detect both wires at switch as live when not connected to switch

What are you using to test it and prove it is live?

 

[davesparks]

That’s going to be my next step,dead testing. Just puzzled as to why I detect both wires at switch as live when not connected to switch

There is likely to be a broken neutral somewhere in the circuit.
So obviously with any load connected in the circuit the neutral conductor downstream of the break will be at line voltage as it is connected to the line conductor via the load.

This is assuming you have confirmed this is not a phantom voltage you have measured?

 

[ben mcalpine]

What are you using to test it and prove it is live?

I only had an electrical screwdriver To check the connections as my tester was in the van, and it was the end of the day so has packed everything up so haven’t determined if it’s volts or current yet

 

[westward10]

Please don't say that is a neon indicating screwdriver.

 

[ben mcalpine]

Please don't say that is a neon indicating screwdriver.

It was ?, it was end of the day my testers had been put back in the van, so this was just a quick look. Tomorrow look at it more in depth, just wondering if anyone has had the same issue

 

[telectrix]

should have left the tester screwdriver in the van, along with the tea and sugar pots. coz. all it's fit for is stirring tea.