Light in Closet Out. Not Bulb, Fuse?

breaker box?

 

Do you have a hand held electrical meter?

Oh, of course you do, even my wife has one, and she's a girl.

Check to see if you have voltage in the socket, than check voltage at the fuse box.

 

I was mean wasn't I? With the "girl" comment. Uncalled for.

I'm sorry.

Really, you should get a little voltage meter at Sears or Northern Machine. It should cost $12 or less and youwill use it the rest of your life.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_12496_12496

 

You sure about that?

 

Have you tried a bulb that you know is good? If all the lights and outlets work in the house, it is probably the socket itself rather than a supply problem.

The breaker box is next, it should be obvious if the breaker has popped, as the switch will be half closed.

If you have an old house with fuses, the fuse will have the filament missing or appear burned through the little window. Buy the fuse and screw the new one in.

Either way the box will probably have notes to what each breaker goes to, but closets sometimes get wired into whatever is handy. Last year our bedroom circuit would pop the breaker at random times, it turned out to be the light switch under the house for the crawlspace had an intermittent short and was scabbed on the bedroom circuit.

 

That has to be the most sold multimeter in the world. I don't know any shop dealing with that kind of things that doesn't have it in their stock. I bought mine for 2,99€, so $12 is a bit on th pricey side...

 

Free:

1) remove bulb

2) lick finger

3) insert finger into light socket

 

Better: tell your room-mate to lick finger.....

 

Question - the guy seems a little whipped. Can you post pictures of the said gf so we can understand why he cannot fix his stuff?

 

I would bet on the base tab in the bulb socket not making contact with the bulb base. A blown fuse (or tripped breaker) would affect other areas of the apartment and be noticed elsewhere. Could be a second bad bulb, or a broken wire, but those are less likely than a socket with a tab bent down. If you are going to bend it back up, make sure you turn off all the breakers or remove the fuses to prevent the smell of burning flesh. Better safe than sorry.

BT

 

Remove the bulb. Look inside the socket. You'll see a contact tab in the center of the socket. This is what is supposed to be touching the center contact on your bulb. It's quite likely that this contact tab is bent down to the point that it no longer touches the bulb when the bulb is screwed into the socket. The solution: bend the contact back up. WARNING: The contact is "hot" unless the breaker is turned off, you WILL get shocked unless you follow safety precautions. Don't just turn off the switch first. It's best if you test the socket with a voltmeter before reaching inside it, just to be sure it's "cold".

 

Best: Tell your room-mate to lick HIS finger, not yours...

 

I can't get the "edit" function to work. Bill beat me to the punch on the advice above.

 

^^^ miltonian's avatar was a normal monkey before he stuck his finget in a socket.

 

Had a similar scenario occur recently. Turned out that the switch died. Can check the switch by touching an insulated wire across the two screws on the switch, thereby completing the circuit. The bulb will light if the switch is the problem.

 

clap on , clap off

 

Stupid question, but is it on a switch? If not, are you sure that there isn't one that got turned off?

 

Not your problem. Get a stick-up battery powered touch light and toss it on a wall. Done, for about $10, and no potential of electrocution.

 

Is the light fixture flourescent? (sp) It may have a ballast bad if so.

 

So how many FChatters does it take to fix a lightswitch?

J/K couldn't resist.

 

You might want to check for critters that may have chewed the wiring; got a missing cat?