Home DIY

Finally managed to tidy up the garage enough to get the bike & car back in along with the MFT

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Just realised one part of our kitchen lighting has one light that stays slightly on when ‘off’ on the dimmer switch. Others are off as but this goes off when turned off then comes back slightly on?!? What would be the reason if anyone has an idea?

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I wish I could find a junior hacksaw that cuts straight. I don’t know if it’s the blades or the hacksaws or both but I’ve been through everyone and they are junk now

Wish my garage was that tidy 🥲

If it’s any consolation, it’s been so messy for the last 4 months that the car wouldn’t fit in.

Swap the bulb with another one and see what happens. Different lighting technologies need to be dimmed in different ways (and some can't be dimmed). Someone may have put in a replacement bulb with the wrong specs.

I guess the dimmer module is still providing a teeny bit of current and that light is the first in the series.

It’s a simple, if not strictly allowed, DIY job to change it.

If you’re lucky one of your other dimmers will have the same module, you could swap them over to test the theory before you spend £10 or whatever.

Obvs if in doubt pay a pro.

Is it down to blade tension (general lack thereof) in a junior?

Thanks will try, all were put in same time as new extension. But worth a try

It’s a Schneider unit. So maybe take off one and try on the other? These are only dimmers we have in the house. Would that work within this unit you reckon? And thanks

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It's because they require so little energy to power them that there's enough parasitic power (energy picked up from adjacent cables) in the circuit to give a very small amount of light.

Usually nothing to do with the dimmer as in the off position it's disconnecting power completely.

Sometimes you see 'phantom' power on circuits when you're testing to see if they are dead. If you use a normal tester it gives you a warning. A 'real' meter will apply enough load to the circuit that the phantom power disappears.

Interesting. I’ve not seen this, though I’ve also not done loads of wiring!

I have had a dimmer module fail to switch fully off tho.

I was indeed thinking take the known good one off and try it on the other, checking they’re the same spec

It's fairly common. I see it more often on newer installations. I guess there's a lot more wiring installed on new builds or refurbs and it tends to run in the same spaces and then split out to individual circuits.

How electrical current actually works is fascinating. It's not vibrating molecules inside a cable. The cable basically directs the electrical field which travels around it.

I have known dimmer modules to stop clicking on and off but that usually exhibits different symptoms. It's complicated though because there are lots of combinations of lamp types and dimmers these days.

See the extra valve you added, full bore brass job or something smaller like an appliance shut off or a push fit plastic one?
Lots of them have a very small orifice vs full ID of a pipe. Plastic push fit pipes also have a slightly smaller ID than copper, if you add a lot of bends and tee's you loose flow rate.

Water used to enter our flat in honestly the most hectic way I've ever seen. Took all the floors up and started again. Also ran full fat 22mm from mains stop cock to the boiler, shower and kitchen with nice curves instead of elbows. The difference was huge. Well worth 3 days of dusty hell.

I really rate my hi-tension Irwin and not too pricey.

https://www.irwin.eu/tools/metal-cutting­/i-125-high-tension-hacksaw-125kg25000-p­si

This is what I have too. Seems to work for me.

I also have the Irwin saw. No issues with it and it’s had some use.

Also try a standard non dimming switch. Should give an indication if there's a general wiring fault.

What kind of general wiring fault could cause these symptoms?

Going to put some lino in the utility room, planing on buying a cheap-ish offcut and sticking it straight onto the nice and level concrete sub-floor - A) will that work? B) what do I sick it down with? Also, I have some primer left over from screeding the kitchen, should I bash this down on teh sub-floor first?

Ta!

not a pro, but sounds like it would work - i stuck some lino down (albeit on ply) using this kind of stuff:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-contact-adhesive-natural-500ml/32657?tc=OT4&ds_kid=92700065751868351&ds_rl=1249407&gclid=CjwKCAiAs8acBhA1EiwAgRFdw4I_RjWT1dj6ztLPiQb1F0cyQnmmTXL4LCuJyKdE6dfwaIsPXg1lCRoCFKcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Sorry rushing responses. I should have said wiring faults/issues can generally a bitch to identify.

I'm in the middle of looking at wiring problems in a non domestic installation.

Funky neutral/ground setups and nails through wires have been common issues I've seen for circuit issues.

I've just had an unusual one with a building that's had a cu changed. The electrician who did the change found shared neutrals so just disconnected them and told the client, can't fix that and left. There were also issues where sensors for bathroom lights had been wired to the cpc (which he'd removed because that's illegal) as it was switch line only and that was mixed up with one of the bathrooms having been sharing a neutral with hallway lights so no power at all. Or should I say, you test the wires you get voltage but no neutral so it disappears under load.

Best part of it was I had a very strict deadline and the client couldn't tell me anything about the previous electricians or work done as it had been quite a while and the house had been empty so he'd not been on top of the work. So I had to figure it all out from scratch.

But getting back to the light problem, one led on in a circuit when the dimmer is switched off has very few problems that could be related to missing neutrals or damaged wiring. If all the leds were on very dimly after being switched off that would be a different story. I'll be interested to find out if it is anything else.

One way to test is put halogens in the circuit.

Did a terrible (IMO) job of scribing the plinth to the wonky as fuck floor. But it's painted and in now. Can still rip and replace if it bothers me, but ms_com is happy. Turns out the carcasses have through holes for dowels in the sides and top that provide the right amount of set back for the side and top pieces (the feet did the same for the plinth). So that's one less "how I am I going to make sure...?" quandry removed.

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Looks good to me, unless you've just poured a self leveler no floor is that level, especially when dealing with boards like that. Or chances are you'll scribe it now, but in a years time the boards will cup more and it'll be more gappy. Sometimes leaving a larger but consistent gap looks tider, or you can also expanding foam tape on a roll and poke it into the gap between plinth and floor, likely to have dust and dirt stick to it like a magnet though.

Pipe lagging. Is it essential, or useless, or somewhere in between?
Is Armaflex any better than the foam or rubber foam type?