Help! All the lights in my house have gone out.

DanH84

DanH84

DanH84

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Joined
5 Aug 2004
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Hey, quick home emergency here which I'm hoping will have a nice simple solution.

When I got up this morning I was switching lights on and off like nobodies business with no problems, I tried to turn my kitchen light on and it flickered a bit then came on before switching straight off... along with every other light in the house. Now none of them will switch on. Every other electrical device is working without trouble.

Now I know nothing but I'm going to hazard a guess that all the lights in the house are on one circuit and that the fuse has blown or something similar on that circuit. I've had a quick look at the meter outside but don't really know what I'm looking for to be honest.

Hopefully someone might have an idea as I guess it'll be a pain in the rear to get someone out in these weather conditions this close to xmas.

Thanks in advance.
 
hurfdurf said:
Some people have never encountered a problem so when it happens for the first time the solution is completely alien.
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I'm sure everyone has grown up in a house with electric and therefore something must have tripped out before, or they have lived a very sheltered life.
 
rogue66700 said:
have you looked at the fuse box? its in the house not on the meter outside
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Depending on the house it could be in a cupboard accessible from outside with the meter, my sister lives in such a house (I think the cupboards were originally bin/storage ones).
A right PITA, especially when a fuse goes at night, when it's wet and cold.

Dan, if you still haven't found it, I'd guess it'll be very near to the location of the meter, probably on the internal wall, I think they like to keep them close to the meter for practical and safety purposes (IE reduce the distance a 65amp+ cable has to go).
 
Its the white 6amp switch. you'll also see 32amp red ones but there for your sockets and 15amp blue ones for cooker/boiler etc so no need to touch them.
You'll know the right one as it'll be off.:)
 
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Don't forget if it trips again when you turn the same light on - don't keeps reseting it - get an electrician out to check out the circuit.

Fuses are there for a reason (often a fault) and not just an inconvenience ;)
 
Cheers for the support guys ;)

I know where the ruddy fuse box is btw. It's in the same outside cupboard as the meter (as werewolf correctly surmised). They're cartridge fuses in there and it's laid out with 3 trip switches. One is next to the fuse box and turns them all off/on then there are another two which I've never used before, however they don't appear to do anything when flicked off and on. I'm assuming that it's just the 6 amp needing replacing and I need to have a look (or get someone to) at the kitchen light (it's been flickering for a while) so I guess the connection is loose) I did think more ran off that 6amp than just the lights though but I've tested all the sockets an everything else is fine. I wasn't sure if the other two switches would do anything though as previously resetting the main one has been fine.

Will have to wait for sunrise before I can see more really.

Thanks again
 
Only three trip switches? Sound's a bit odd to me.

If it's something as simple as a loose connection, it would be pretty easy to sort yourself, just a case of checking the ceiling rose and making sure all the wires are secure. Obviously make sure all power to the house is off!

This is the only possible place I can think there will be a loose connection if it's only affecting that one light, unless you have a dimmer switch in that room, these can start to fail after a while. (I personally don't like dimmer, bad memories of cheap shoddy built ones and electric shocks..)

If you don't feel confident doing it yourself, then definitely get someone who knows what they doing to look, but that goes without saying really.

Edit: You could check the connection in the switch too, forgot to mention, still early, not awake yet.....
 
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