This page will be a compilation of some of the scarier things I have found when called out because ‘my lights aren’t working’
I should say right now that this type of problem is relatively uncommon, so don’t panic!
First up is a good example of what to look for – a driveway light that was tripping the fusebox. At first glance it had a little condensation inside, but once opened up you can see that the bulb holder was swimming
A less-subtle example, this is the shade of a bathroom light after the roof developed a leak
Crispy cables now, and here is a selection of examples
Mostly they were either joined poorly or were run across the top of the (hot!) light fitting. Simple to fix and to prevent a re-occurrence
Rather more serious is this shower isolator – a poor connection had, over time, melted the terminal off the switch and fried the wire’s insulation for a good couple of inches
And finally, a great example of how not to connect cables together! Not only is the connection not properly secure (which can lead to overheating as above) but parts of the wires are completely uninsulated, which is obviously very dangerous – not least because the pipe visible above the cables in the picture was a gas pipe!
