[Sime]

The guy came to do the virtual tour of our house last week. He asked me if I could remove a bulb from one of my mini cans so that the shot wouldn't be over exposed.


I removed the halogen bulb from the fixture while the lights were on (I know, I know, stupid me!) and there was a small pop and the whole 7 lights on that circuit suddenly went out. I immediately checked the breaker and it was fine and 'active'. Any and all attempts to get them working again, including putting the original bulb back, and resetting the breaker didn't help.


I haven't had a chance to test the switch to see if power is coming to the switch. But, could it be the switch that has blown out? I have the X10 dimmable switches. Does anybody have an idea what it could be?


Thanks!

 

[Sandpiper]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sime But, could it be the switch that has blown out? I have the X10 dimmable switches. Does anybody have an idea what it could be? Thanks!

My first guess is that by removing the bulb from the fixture, some incidental movement may have caused a wire to come loose in the fixture, or to burn in two. I would check the fixture that you removed the bulb from. Of course, it will be easier to test the switch first since that is easy to get to. If it's not the switch, then it's most likely a loose wire at the fixture.

 

[Larry Fine]

Educated guess: the lamp socket in the can was loose enough that the wires twisted and shorted together, which blew the dimmer.


Fix: Turn off breaker, replace dimmer with ordinary switch, see if circuit can be turned back on; if so, replace bulb, try again, and replace dimmer only after testing with bulb working.


Find out what caused the short!