Bathroom light

[Lakitu]

The other night I switched on my bathroom light and the bulb popped, which tripped the main switch.

The main switch is for all the ceiling lights in my house, so when I switched it back on, they all came back on except the bathroom light, naturally.

I went and bought a couple of bulbs, replaced the popped one and switched on but the light didn't come one. I thought maybe I had a dud new bulb, so tried the other new one, which didn't work either.

I then took a bulb out of a light that is working fine just to see what was going on and still the bathroom light didn't come on.

Any ideas what's going on here? It's definately not the main switch since all the other lights are working (I also double checked that all the main switches were flicked to on too) and it's definately not the bulb since the last bulb I tried works in other lights.

[paddywak]

Sounds like the fitting is at fault, perhaps a loose connection. What type of lamp holder is it? Some times if its an old bayonet type the spring in the contact fails.. Also have you tested to see if there is actually a supply to the light? If the fitting is at fault new ones are cheep enough but please what ever you do be sure to get somebody who knows what they are doing to do it for you, electricity is a dangerous thing

[Fay Mousse]

It could be a loose connection in the light bulb holder.

[davewr]

Could be a loose connection in the ceiling fitting or in the switch. If neither then I think you need an electrician.

[Lakitu]

It's a bayonet type, how do I check electricity is getting to the light?

Don't worry, I wouldn't meddle with electricity, I just didn't want to be alling out an electrician if it was something simple.

[tezestwing]

you could VERY CAREFULLY and touch one of the pins with this screwdriver type tool and see if it responds the trouble is you may have a negative problem so you need a multimeter as here http://www.screwfix.com/cats/A331921/Electrica l/Electricians-Tools/Circuit-Testers;jsessioni d=SDTA4OUBNQQDGCSTHZPCFFI
or a simple wired up BC holder test bulb to verify negative and positive best to get sparky after that HTH Tez

[Lakitu]

I think I'll get an electrician LOL

[heathfield]

It can happen that when a bulb fails, the tungsten filament vapourises. This allows an excessive current to flow, which made your main switch trip.
If there was a loose connection in the lampholder, the excessive current could have caused a spark at that point. This in turn could have burned off just a small amount of the wire at the connection, so there's no longer a path for the electricity to the new bulb.
Somehow, you'll have to check that the wires in the lampholder are properly connected to the terminals.

[Lakitu]

Thank you heathfield,

I've arranged for an electrician to come to see me tomorrow afternoon, I don't want to mess about with electricity if it's not just flicking a switch LOL.

[Disco Fever]

Please post what was wrong and how much the sparky charged you as I'm a sparks myself and I would normally charge between �10 -�20 depending on what materials ive used....