Do we have a domestic electrician in the house?

[Blues]

The light bulbs in our kitchen are "blowing" at an alarming rate. We used to have the spot light type which blew regularly, soi have swapped those fittings for new halogen ones.

Two are single bulb on their own circuit, another sperate cicuit has a four bulb one, and another has 2 sets of 4 bulb lights. They are 50w bulbs. Sometimes when the bulbs blow it triggers the circuit breaker, at other times it doesn't. Bulbs in the rest of the house seems ok.

The house is old, but was rewired about 6 years ago.

If this is an earthing issue, how do i test for it, and how do i fix it - or do i "legally" now need to get an electrician in?

Thanks

[NiceCupOfTea]

Do you mean the GU10 halogen spotlamps? In 2 different places I have lived in they are blowing all the time. In fact, I notice that when there are 1 or 2 blown in the room the others seem to last longer!

I think it's just something you have to put up with

Just buy them in bulk from a website cheaply.

Apparently if you have a dimmer they will last longer as it's the sudden on/off that kills them.

[Blues]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Do you mean the GU10 halogen spotlamps?

Yes, those are the nasty little chaps. They seem to last about 4 or 5 weeks and then bang!

[xllifts]

Blues said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

Do you mean the GU10 halogen spotlamps?

Yes, those are the nasty little chaps. They seem to last about 4 or 5 weeks and then bang!

Dave e-mail Gangland boss hes the man;)

Also sorry about rambling mail the other night, i'm on some powerful drugs at the moment for my neck i know what i wanted to say but.... hope all is well mate

Dave

Legally you need part P minimum

Edited by xllifts on Sunday 23 November 13:54

[Plotloss]

xllifts said:

Legally you need part P minimum

Not neccesarily.

If the circuit requires modification, as its in a Kitchen then its notifiable and therefore falls under Part P.

Changing one light fitting for another, even in a kitchen is not notifiable.

If the cable has been damaged and needs replacing that is not notifiable.

[Blues]

xllifts said:

Dave e-mail Gangland boss hes the man;)

Also sorry about rambling mail the other night, i'm on some powerful drugs at the moment for my neck i know what i wanted to say but.... hope all is well mate

Dave

Legally you need part P minimum

Thanks for that Dave, and the mail - your kind words were most welcome.

And there was me thinking that H had the pain in the neck I hope that gets sorted soon mate.

[xllifts]

Blues said:

xllifts said:

Dave e-mail Gangland boss hes the man;)

Also sorry about rambling mail the other night, i'm on some powerful drugs at the moment for my neck i know what i wanted to say but.... hope all is well mate

Dave

Legally you need part P minimum

Thanks for that Dave, and the mail - your kind words were most welcome.

And there was me thinking that H had the pain in the neck I hope that gets sorted soon mate.

why you......

[NiceCupOfTea]

Blues said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

Do you mean the GU10 halogen spotlamps?

Yes, those are the nasty little chaps. They seem to last about 4 or 5 weeks and then bang!

Sounds about right

Regards Part P, isn't it one of those things that you can do yourself but have to get inspected?

[xllifts]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Blues said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

Do you mean the GU10 halogen spotlamps?

Yes, those are the nasty little chaps. They seem to last about 4 or 5 weeks and then bang!

Sounds about right

Regards Part P, isn't it one of those things that you can do yourself but have to get inspected?

Hummm Part p is a grey area and it looks like we have to register PDQ and if i'm reading the NICEIC site correctly ALL STAIRLIFT INSTALLATIONS nationwide don't comply

[Plotloss]

Yep all Stairlift work is notifiable.

[xllifts]

Plotloss said:

Surely taking a spur for a stairlift motor isnt notifiable as its not in a controlled area?

Suppose it depends on required ampage mind

Within a dwelling and is a fixed earth bonded appliance, as i read it we need to notify am now looking into this deeper.
Will call NIC helpline in morning and update here.

ETA
All spurs have to be dedicated to comply with bs on stairlifts.

Edited by xllifts on Sunday 23 November 14:44

[Plotloss]

I changed it, its notifiable, special case specifically for stairlifts.

http://www.partp.co.uk/consumer/consumer_diy.asp

Edited by Plotloss on Sunday 23 November 14:44

[xllifts]

Plotloss said:

I changed it, its notifiable, special case specifically for stairlifts.

This has serious implications on us and more frightenly the manufacturers,

I don't know of any that comply on installations, DOUBLE

[xllifts]

Plotloss said:

I changed it, its notifiable, special case specifically for stairlifts.

http://www.partp.co.uk/consumer/consumer_diy.asp

Edited by Plotloss on Sunday 23 November 14:44

thats what triggered my further investigations arghhhhhhhhhhh.

Thanks for info has probably saved me a court case

[Plotloss]

You can become a competent person for just your works.

Like a corgi fitter can become competent for adding a boiler spur in isolation, presumably facility exists for you to become competent solely for the fitting of motor spurs.

[xllifts]

Plotloss said:

You can become a competent person for just your works.

Like a corgi fitter can become competent for adding a boiler spur in isolation, presumably facility exists for you to become competent solely for the fitting of motor spurs.

This is what i am lead to believe and G/B also mention there is a section for us in part p but didn't realise the indepthness iyswim of the regs.

Frantic call tomorrow to NIC me thinks

[miniman]

Where are you buying the lamps from? The quality varies immensely IME and its not necessarily simply a case of buying the most expensive out there. We have a 4-lamp IKEA fitting in our kitchen which is on its original lamps and that is daily use for the last 4 years.

[fido]

I had the same problem with my kitchen bulbs. After replacing all of them once, i tried using a slighlty lower wattage (15/20) and haven't had a failure in over 2 years.

[mik.ross]

fido said:

I had the same problem with my kitchen bulbs. After replacing all of them once, i tried using a slighlty lower wattage (15/20) and haven't had a failure in over 2 years.

^^^^
What he said

GU10 Halogen @ 50 Watts generate a lot of heat, they are on your kitchen ceiling which is usually the hottest "zone" in your house when you are cooking etc.

Lower Wattage = less heat so in theory they should last longer. You just have to trade Lux levels (the amount of light emmited)with the replacement interval / value.

HTH

[Blues]

Thanks - i'll give lower wattage bulbs a try and see how we get on