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LED ceiling light works in one room, not in another

  • 09-08-2020 3:11pm
    #1
    griznovski
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭


    I wonder if someone can shed light (no pun intended) on why my new LED ceiling light is working in one room but not in another.

    I'm replacing a ceiling light that's controlled by a single switch and a dimmer switch. I have this setup in two different rooms and both are seemingly identical in that they use the same make and model of single switch and the same make and model of dimmer. The light I'm installing is an LED light and it works fine in one room but not in the other. The two rooms seem to be on different circuits, in that they are enabled/disabled by different circuit breakers in the main distribution box.

    In the room where it doesn't work, I know the electricity is flowing because I've tried installing two other lights in the same position and they work fine. When I touch the bare Live wire with a mains testing screwdriver it lights up. When I connect the Live wire into the LED light and touch the screw of the connector, the screwdriver still lights up. But when I connect the Neutral into the connector, there is no longer any response from the testing screwdriver when I touch the Live connector and the light doesn't turn on.

    The LED light in question is a Source 30W LED Dimmable CCT Slimline Ceiling Light. I've also tried a 12W version of the same light with the same results.


Comments

  • #2
    punisher5112
    Registered Users Posts: 24,647 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    Some circuits I've found just don't run right with LED replacement, the neutral could well be the issue but is the dimmer switch actually rated for what you want and the fitting suitable for this also....


  • #3
    2011
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,531 Mod ✭✭✭✭2011


    Step one, swap the LED builbs and see what happens.


  • #4
    Bruthal
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,422 ✭✭✭✭Bruthal


    From the phase tester results, it's like it is incorrectly wired at a switch or similar. Assuming no lamp works in the same fitting, and also assuming that the result of the "tester" not lighting when neutral was connected, was with the lamp fitted.


  • #5
    punisher5112
    Registered Users Posts: 24,647 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    Wouldn't be trusting them dangerous phase testers made in China....


  • #6
    Bruthal
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,422 ✭✭✭✭Bruthal


    punisher5112 wrote: »
    Wouldn't be trusting them dangerous phase testers made in China....
    No, although I don't trust anything in life in electrical, from digital meters to other electricians and the list is endless. But if it lights on one wire and not on another, and they are a switch feed and switch wire for example, it's a slight clue which is which, rather than a proof of anything much.


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  • #7
    griznovski
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭griznovski


    Thanks everyone for the input but it's not a bulb I'm replacing, it's the whole ceiling pendant. It's obvious the problem is either the dimmer or the nature of the circuit. So I decided to swap the dimmers. But when I took them off the wall, I see that they are wired up completely differently because one is on a plate with a second dimmer and the other with a single switch, so one has four wires attached to it and the other has six. I don't know enough about electrics to safely swap them over to make the comparison so I guess I'll find an electrician.


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