Dim down lights

[Lesgrandepotato]

I've got the up and downlights in the lounge wired up. When I fitted the fittings in second fix I absent mindedly connected up the neutrals together, and the lives and left the earths. 

 

Now each light is very dim and and I'm starting to wonder if the switching actually goes to each lamp and there for I should have used the earths but sheathed as Com. 

 

Does anyone have a view on my muppetry?  in a normal wall light with twin and earth how should they be connected? 

[ProDave]

Need more information.

 

Leaving the earth disconnected should not stop a light fitting working, but may make it unsafe so go back and connect those earths.

 

You can NOT use an earth core for anything else don't even think about it.

[Lesgrandepotato]

Hmm. There is nothing to connect Earth to. Only fittings for live and neutral. 

The fittings are porcelain if that makes any odds. 

[Lesgrandepotato]

The lights are these, https://www.slvlighting.com/en-us/luminaires-lamps/plastra-cube-plaster-wall-700020u.html

six of them on a single switch. 

All have two cables (twin and earth) and one has just a single twin and earth. 

[Lesgrandepotato]

I’ll correct myself, there is an earth in there and I have connected it. 

 

I assumed that we had a cable in and a cable out. Hence connecting the lives to lives and neutrals to neutrals. 

 

If you put 12v on mains g9 will it light? I wonder if someone has inadvertently added a 12v adapter in the circuit. 

[ProDave]

It says "LED G9" So could it just be they have provided a very low power LED lamp and it's not living up to your expectations of light output?

[Lesgrandepotato]

Nah. I fitted them they are nice and bright in the other circuits. Sounds like nothing’s by is obviously stupid in what I’ve done (comments on not using earths) excepted

[MikeSharp01]

Sounds like a series connection somewhere - I guess the internal circuitry will facilitate this if its a rectifier not sure how a straight capacitive coupled LED will work if connected in series.

Edited November 7, 2017 by MikeSharp01
Somewhere

[ProDave]

Get a halogen G9 lamp. The fittings may not be rated to take them due to heat, but a short test won't hurt. My guess is it won't light up at all showing you have a wiring fault somewhere like a poor connection.

[Jeremy Harris]

As a useful tip to help prevent phantom lamp glowing when off with some low power lights, make sure that the earth conductors are connected at one end, even if the light fitting itself is double insulated and does not require an earth.  Having the earth conductor in the cable actually earthed helps to remove induced current in circuits that are turned off, and can stop the phantom glow that some LEDs, in particular, are prone to.

[Onoff]

More for flickering than dimming issues but worth noting: If there's two way or intermediate switching involved you can try swapping the strappers and common around in the 3-core + earth, this to vary the (stray) capacitance in the cable. Just make sure you do the same both ends! 

 

Snubbers sometimes help too.

 

https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/rc-contact-suppressor-rg22y

[Lesgrandepotato]

Bit more information, all the bulbs show full brightness in another lamp.  Each one can be pulled individually and the others remain lit (suggesting they are not in series) . 

Had a hunt in the loft to see if we had inadvertantly wired in a 12v driver - not present... 

 

Therefore the challenge must be before the first light in the circuit, time to get the multimeter out. 

[Temp]

 

19 hours ago, Lesgrandepotato said:

The lights are these, https://www.slvlighting.com/en-us/luminaires-lamps/plastra-cube-plaster-wall-700020u.html

six of them on a single switch. 

 

The tech data section says they are 120V lamps.