Water started leaking from the pull cord switch for bathroom lights and the lights started flickering even when turned off. Turns out upstairs neighbour had a leak in their bathroom that caused it. Turned the power to the lights in the flat off for 24 hours, tried turning them on again but the bathroom lights still flicker when switched off. What is the best thing to do in this situation?
Personally I would say you need the circuit testing to makesure the wiring is still ok, depending on what type of lighting it is it may have damaged them
A good idea would be to have a qualified electrician carry out and inspection of your lighting circuit. It’s possible there may be some water causing problems. Or that the initial flood caused the circuit connections to become loose. This would cause a flicker as your describing. A loose connection can cause arching or overheating so even if it works right now it’s really advisable that you get that situation resolved before it leads to something more difficult to resolve. Best of luck and hope you get it sorted soon.
Kind regards Desap Electrical
Immediately turn off the power supply to your home at the mains and call out a qualified electrician.
Replacement pull cord and light fitting if showing signs of water damage
In this situation testing of electrical installation will be required. Prior to that I would recommend physical check of the wiring by taking the ceiling off in your bathroom. It is very dangerous situation you are in as due to water damaged at least the cord switch contact is faulty which cause short circuit - that is why the light is flickering. It might even cause a fire. I would recommend to take the ceiling off or at least cut inspection hole and check the wiring for physical condition, replace faulty cord switch and complete condition test for the installation and finally repair the ceiling. The bathroom light might need to be replaced as well.
Best plan is to call an electrician who will remove the pull cord and light fitting to remove the water that is trapped in the fitting.
Due to water in the light fitting as well as pull cord I would advise replacing the light fitting to an ip65 rated fitting, also replace pull cord and make sure that the entry to the pullcord is protected from future water leaks. The light is flickering as potential arc this can be dangerous due to arcs can cause fire if left unchecked
Make sure the leak has been resolved. Light will not work correctly if wet and will be dangerous because water conducts electricity. Everything need to be dry and possibly changed if damaged.
The common cause of flickering lights that also go out and come back on is a loose connection. If it is only at one light, check the connection at light fitting and switch (with circuit off and circuit tested to be dead)
An electrician needs to come to inspect due to water ingress in the fittings. I would advise to get the affected fitting replaced due to corrosion and the issues that may occur.
Replacement switch would be ideal not costly at all unless the cable is damaged but then would only need to pull in a small cable to change switch £40 to change cable and switch £100
I would recommend to get an electrician to take the light and pull cord down and completely dry the cables there. It would then be important to make sure both the fitting and pull cord where completely dry before putting them up again and maybe changing them for new ones if necessary.
Thank you for your enquiry.
I recommend to inspect the wiring and swiches for moisture and testing with a electrical multifunction tester. They may have to be replaced to ensure they are properly dry for safe operation.
The good news is they are relatively inexpensive and a strightforward job for a qualified electrician.
Hope this helps
Regards
Chris
Best thing would be to replace the the pull cord.
You need an electrician to take the light and switch apart and check the cable and connections
Turn off the mcb for bathroom lighting, call electrician
I suggest replacing the pullcord and getting the connection check within the light fitting
I would recommend you have an electrical look at your lighting circuit and perform an insulation resistance test on the circuit, this will give us a very good understanding on what the problem
Could be and how to rectify it.
Need new switch to be replaced.
Looks like water damage