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Comment by ahmeneeroe-v2 | Hacker News Reader

What does a "dead light" mean in this context? Your landlord isn't changing your bulbs?

I've mostly lived in 100+ year old homes with old janky wiring and have never had a light fixture die, just bulbs.

In fairness, note that in some countries (like mine) there are tighter regulations for electrical circuitry in rooms with baths and showers, which require work in that sort of area (problems with the pull switch, a joint box, or the ceiling rose, for example) to be done or at least overseen by a qualified electrician. They're known as "Part P" in the United Kingdom.

* https://gov.uk/government/publications/electrical-safety-app...

That said, bringing in a mains-powered non-IP-rated portable floor standing lamp because the ceiling mounted one is broken is definitely not the intended outcome of such safety standards.

> in the United Kingdom

Don't forget to earth all your water pipes to ground, and only use sockets that are water-rated to resist biblical floods.

I remember being intrigued by a big 40 x 40 cm plastic box on the outside wall of the cabin we were staying at in the UK. Opening the movable front-flap revealed 1 (one) 220V power socket, protected on all sides with enough rubber and plastic to seal a submarine hatch. I had absolutely no doubt it fully complied with all the norms of health and safety..

You are thinking of section 250.104 of NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code published by the U.S.A. National Fire Protection Association. (-:

BS 7671 (IEE Wiring Regs) does not require bonding of the pipework if the mains (service) pipes and the internal (installation) piping are both plastic.

(-:

Not OP, but I'm in a similar situation: I have a two-way switched pair of lights on my stairwell, one light at the base, one at the top. The one at the top does not work. We've tried replacing the bulb, we've tried fiddling with the cable for it (it's a suspended lamp). It hasn't worked since we moved in. We've told the landlord twice, he said he'd call his guy, his guy hasn't shown up.

I would like to have a light in my stairs. It's hard to see at night in the winter. My solutions is going to be to spin up home assistant, a zigbee base, and some fairy lights on a 'smart' switch.

I could learn the skills to troubleshoot why the electrical connection is (apparently) bad to the lamp, but given that said connection is in the walls, my DIY skills are trash, and I'm scared of electricity, I'm gonna do the project that's more fun and lines up with some stuff I wanted to do anyway.

I have no idea why the lamp doesn't work, especially because the fixture at the base of the stairs does, but the landlord insists it worked before we moved in.

Been there, seen that. Some notes:

- the two-way switched lights may have never worked as intended. So no matter what you do with the endpoints it may never work.

- doing it yourself is a waste of time and money. You'll learn nothing of value and will toss it all in the end.

-Proper solution is to hire a certified electrician who is familiar with two-way lights to fix/replace the current wiring.

If you rent, pay the electrician and send the bill to the landlord. Keep a copy. If landlord hasn't paid by the time you move out, bill him for the price. If he stiffs you, sue him in small claims court - he'll pay or you'll win.

Cheapest fix: run an extension cord with a bulb to the upstairs light, turn it on and leave it on all the time. Electricity is cheap, bulbs efficient. Having a light on inside keeps burglars away, esp. bathroom lights (according to Malcolm X).

> turn it on and leave it on all the time

Or just get a motion activated one.

They have their own shenanigans, but...

If it wasn't suspended in the air I would say give it a go, household wiring isn't like some movie style electrocution hazard and is fairly easy to test for live. If you are dry and not grounded even if you get shocked it would hurt and singe some skin but would be freak accident to die from and you should have the breaker off anyways.

But with it up the top of a set of stairs and in the air requiring a ladder or something to stand on I wouldn't recommend it for a first time because if you did get shocked, not knowing what is coming (and possibly even if you did), you would jerk or jump away and possibly fall down the stairs which is way worse.

>What does a "dead light" mean in this context?

I'm in the UK that has more reliance on ring circuits i.e. electrically its a chain of devices. So depending on details one fault can take out all the lights in a room

>Your landlord isn't changing your bulbs?

They're just taking their time.

Normally I'd just replace bulbs myself but this is a bit more complicated cause its hooked into other devices as well and i can't even tell what is broken

Ring mains are parallel, not series. Which means that more than one thing going out is a clue to where the fault is, and an indicator that the job is definitely per the regs one for a qualified electrician. Conversely, only one device going out points the other way. Although IP-rated fittings inside one of the zones is still a qualified electrician job.

But bringing a mains powered non-IP-rated portable substitute into the room in the interim is a truly terrible idea. The regs also specify that there's a minimum distance that stuff should have from baths, sinks, showers, cisterns, and whatnot; and that they should not be reachable at all by a wet human being.

I'll wave this at you:

* https://electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guidance/safety-around-...

And you in turn wave this at your landlord:

* https://electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guidance/advice-for-you...

It likely means the OP has poor handyman skills and wisely has chosen not to learn by him/her self due to safety hazard. After all, these circuits are usually ~110 volts and there is almost always an unintended ground nearby (a water or gas pipe, a wet bathtub, etc.).

Learn how to change a lightbulb? Is that a handyman level skill?

Sadly yes, b/c even the simplest things can go wrong quickly. E.g. people sometimes change light bulbs w/o turning off the power. Have you ever experienced a dead (or good, for that matter) bulb coming apart as you twist it out of the socket? Would you trust a naive person to properly handle that situation?

With power off(easy case)?

With power on(difficult)?

If they can set up a light with home assistant they can screw in a lightbulb. Come on.

That may be so, but what you say doesn't answer my question: can they unscrew a lightbulb that is literally falling apart as they unscrew it?

ANSWER:

If the power is off, they likely will remove the glass bulb (one piece), examine the situation and then unscrew the metal bulb base (second piece) and finally, remove any stray material in the (unpowered) socket.

If the power is on, the correct answer is "No, they likely cannot unscrew the bulb. Instead they will likely short the circuit, blow a breaker/fuse and put themselves in a situation where they must call in someone more knowledgeable, (or worse)."

I’m sorry the light bulb presents difficulty for you

You are conflating naive and a barely functional human being.

If someone doesn't know what the electricity zaps and couldn't think two steps ahead then they definitely should be anywhere near a power circuits, operating a car or be allowed to vote.

EDIT: of course it should had been 'shouldn't be anywhere' but it's even better, so I leave it as is.

you've just excluded at least half of america from voting, however smart you think most people are... the reality is significantly worse

Can I now take it as confirmation from the two of you (justsomehnguy and micromacrofoot) that at least half of Americans who vote should not be allowed to vote?

If so, this may be the first time an important political question has been resolved without a light bulb turning on (figurative or otherwise).

Does the name R. Heinlein rings any bells?

Not what I would support it made that way...

I have no idea what the specific situation is, but in my old rental, the ceiling lights weren't traditional bulbs -- they were custom dome fixtures with non-replaceable lighting elements. When mine went out, I had to wait for my landlord to buy a replacement.

>It likely means the OP has poor handyman skills

OP here - no just dealing with UK ring circuits where the lights are wired inline with non-light devices. And since I'm renting I'm not here to do handyman work. Lightbulbs I do ofc replace myself.

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