Is it Possible to Blow a Light Switch?

I recently Changed a Ceiling Spotlight, not led but screw in, on a pendant electrical arrangemet, however, when i turned the lights on again, the bulb and possibly the switch blew, now the lights will not switch off? What is the problem???



Many thanks
Is it Possible to Blow a Light Switch?
You can't blow a switch, because all it is is a mechanical contact, and the fact that bulb turns on at the start means the switch is still functional.



It may be a combination of a CFL bulb ? with a dimmer switch ?

they are not normally compatible.



Is this the arrangment you have ?
Is it Possible to Blow a Light Switch?
wire connections may not be correct
Sounds like the Switch short circuited because of the spot or the spot fitment,and the metal contacts fused together in the on position

Try the spotlight somewhere else to see if its blown or not... then

TURN OFF the electricity from the mains and check the screw in socket... then check the switch to see if its that ? If its fused it'll be a bit black and burnt.

Replace whats necessary..then turn on the elec again.
whats the rating on the switch ?

if its a standard the amp rating is too low

on the side of the switch , is a rating,

some are 110v at 15 amp some are 220v at 25 amp
Wiring is NOT as it was.

When it doesn't blow the fuse, but is lit, the switch is 'off'



You've connected the return live from the switch into the neutral slot (along with an another neutral wire), and it's shorting when you operate the switch



Just because a wire is black, it doesn't make it a neutral!
the toggle is MECHANICAL it CAN wear out
I've been an electrician for three or four years, and I don't understand the question. You changed the light fixture and now it is always on? that might happen if you accidentally short circuited the neutral and hot, or ground and hot, and it somehow ruined the switch when you turned it on.



It's not that you changed a light bulb is it, and that somehow ruined the switch? Because that is how the question sounds.



It's not track lighting is it?



So, you took down the old fixture, and had three wires hanging out of the ceiling, right? a ground, a neutral (probably white) and a hot (probably black, but maybe red or blue). And then you put in a new fixture.



You didn't do anything with the switch during this whole operation did you? Other than turn it off, I mean. You didn't rewire it?



Sorry, need more information.



It's not a three-way switch circuit is it?
hi i think when you have changed the fitting you have connected the cables up wrong. you will have a feed in and feed ot at the fitting which consits of two reds and two blacks. the two blacks go to the neutral on the fitting, the two reds should go in to the loop feed part or if there is not one a 15amp connector. the other cable is your switch wire, the red should go in with the other reds and the red / black thats left in to the live part on the fitting. i think the reason the lights staying on is that you have the feed in feed out reds and the switch wire red together so the fitting is perminally on but the black which is the switch wire back up in with the neutrals so when you switch the switch it is putting currebt up the black switch wire and shorting live to neutral.



if you still have problems i would recommend calling a electricain, as it is dangerous working with electrics, a niceic one.
maybe a blown fuse? But then parts of your house would be without electricity
Yes, but you'll look kind of silly doing it.
sounds like when you terminated the light you shorted the circuit out. the switch is also making the light stay on.



electrical is not diy



you need an electrician
Yipes!

While I can imagine a failure mode of a switch that would result in it being permanently 'arced' in the closed position, my fear is that this is not what is happening here. I understand there were no wiring changes but if I understand the nature of the socket that you changed the bulb in, there was probably some movement of the wires as you unscrewed and screwed the bulb into it.



What I think probably happened is that a there is a crack in the wire insulation or a wire whisker that is touching where it should not. If I am right, you have some of the conditions in place for an electrical shock hazard or fire hazard.





Difficult to describe this without a picture but I'll take a shot. Note description below is based on an electrical socket. I know this is not what you have but the principal of the failure is the same.



Imagine you have a typical 3 prong outlet on your wall. On this socket one of the vertical slits is 'hot'. The other vertical slit is neutral/return and the round hole is a safety ground. In normal operation, current essentially flows out of the hot slit, into a device and back out via the neutral and the safety ground carries no current at all. A wall switch is typically opening and closing the neutral line. In your case, I think the neutral line is opening but the current is finding a path away from the light down the safety ground line. This is bad. If you had a ground fault interrupt breaker on the circuit, it would blow but it is very very rare to have this on a normal light circuit.



So, I recommend an electrician ASAP and probably turning off the breaker in the mean time to prevent something very bad happening. (Assuming you find fire or death bad as I tend to not enjoy either of these)