I wasn't being rude btw i was trying to make the point that had you used a multimeter you wouldn't have had to wait 7 days and could have found where the fault was in a few minutes.
The item you are using for doing testing is unsuitable to say the least.
The reason for needing to wait 7 days was one of available light: I'm not about to start messing with mains electricity in the dark using only a torch, this includes using a multimeter.
I began this work last Sunday afternoon (11-12), couldn't resolve before it got dark, and then due to the dark winter days had to wait until this Saturday to look into. Had I been working in BST May-August, I'd have been able to resolve in a heartbeat.
And again, just becuase I didn't explicitly explain that I was using a multimeter, this does not mean I am not. A multimeter is an ESSENTIAL piece of electrical kit - cripes this is drilled-in from the age of 11 in both physics and design/technology classes. If you're not a strong swimmer, don't go near the water. If you plan on doing electrical work, don't begin without a multimeter simple as.
So in this instance, rather than assume that I'm not using a multimeter, the better method would have been to determine whether I was using a multimeter
properly, by asking whether I had tested continuity through the lampholder. I would have been less annoyed at this question as it displays a desire to engage and educate, rather than to assume I am playing with mains electric using nothing more than tin-foil lined gloves!
It was only after I had successfully tested continuity, that I had determined the problem to be related somehow to the lampholder, I just could not work out what, which therefore meant isolating from mains, and testing the lampholder individually.
A lampholder is just a simple circuit, and a general ceiling pendant is no different from a table lamp, so I cannot see how my wiring a 3A plug on and powering from a pure-sine power-pack to test to identify the cause is 'unsuitable'.