Any electricians on here? ... need some help / advice.

ste

TK Veteran
Recently replaced some light fittings in my mums house - a hall light and landing light. The landing light has 2 way switching (can be turned on/off from both upstairs and downstairs). She told me that the upstairs landing light is flickering on and off so I went to take a look. Firstly, I checked all wires in the light fitting and in the wall switches - all okay. The lights are fancy things with 5 branches on them and are fitted with 5 cool white g9 leds (same as the downstairs one - exactly the same fitting). I have removed each bulb one by one and still the same. What I did notice after some investigating was that if I turned the upstairs landing light on initially from downstairs, it comes on fine and can be turned on and off okay from the upstairs switch too but if I turn if off from downstairs and turn it on from the upstairs switch, all led bulbs flicker and struggle to come on then after 20-30 seconds it might come on then go back off after a short while. It's just baffling me how it's okay if controlled from the downstairs switch initially.
 
I would replace the upstairs switch, as it may not be making full contact on the rocket points, thus not allowing full electric flow to the Led"s.. ( an intermitting fault )
 
Definitely sounds like a loose connection on one of the switches, if you feel confident enough to check it yourself turn off the breaker/mcb for the lights off, if there is two or three mcbs for lights make sure and turn them all off as it could be wired from either the upstairs or downstairs circuit. Take the switches off and check the L1 and L2 terminals, they are cables controlling the two way switching, make sure they are secure and not loose. Also check the Com terminal, the one upstairs or downstairs will have a permanent live feed so be careful. If its still not working properly replace the switch at top of the stairs
 
Try alternating your switching,
ie: when turned on from upstairs, turn it off downstairs, then back on upstairs, this will either prove a faulty switch, or a bad connection on your strappers, (the pair of cables that connect the 2 switches together)
It's strange that if you didn't touch the switches initially that such an issue would suddenly appear tho,
Take a picture of what cables are at the switches.
 
I've checked the switches and wires are tight and secure in the terminals and as said, the light works fine using the upstairs switch (but only if initially turned on from the downstairs switch).

Also I forgot to mention, before I fitted this new light fitting with led's a couple of months back, I temporarily fitted a pendant with standard bulb whilst I was decorating and this worked fine.

I'm thinking may be an issue with it running the leds so I will buy a pack of g9 halogens just to see if it still happens.
 
Mains - there's no transformers in the setup.

Fitting halogens is just to rule out an issue with it running the led's and (hopefully) not a permanent solution.
 
I'm thinking may be an issue with it running the leds so I will buy a pack of g9 halogens just to see if it still happens.
That's a lot of Watts for a 2 pole switch. I'd recommend changing it to cover the higher amount of Watts.
 
I fitted the halogens and they worked fine so led me to think it must be a loose connection or an earth fault somewhere as I know the LED's are more prone to flickering with loose cabling / an earth fault. Although upon first checking on Monday, the wires did seem secure in their terminals, I didn't have a small enough screwdriver at the time to check the screws so I made sure I took one with me today so firstly, I removed both upstairs and downstairs switches and tightened terminals (there was a couple not fully tightened) and I thought this would do the trick but it was still doing it. I then spotted some earthing wire that was unsheathed so I put some sheathing on it and all seems to be okay now.
 
I fitted the halogens and they worked fine so led me to think it must be a loose connection or an earth fault somewhere as I know the LED's are more prone to flickering with loose cabling / an earth fault. Although upon first checking on Monday, the wires did seem secure in their terminals, I didn't have a small enough screwdriver at the time to check the screws so I made sure I took one with me today so firstly, I removed both upstairs and downstairs switches and tightened terminals (there was a couple not fully tightened) and I thought this would do the trick but it was still doing it. I then spotted some earthing wire that was unsheathed so I put some sheathing on it and all seems to be okay now.
Have you left the halogens in?
What wattage are they?
 
Back
Top