How to rewire a fuse?

Question

My lights have just gone off and for the life of me i dont know why...
I've replaced the wire in one of them but it keeps snaping everytime i switch the electric on?

Any idea how to fix it...? I've switched all the lights off in the mean time..

Unfortunately i cant buy a new one as my fuse's are done with wires. Im using a 5amp wire as this is the wire that was here when we moved in (i havent had to change it before so i have no clue) it has lighting written on it...

The fuses all seem to have the same wire in them and i dont think there are any spare ones anyway...I've never had to replace it before, The only thing that is blowing is the first of three fuses in the light circuit...I dont know where it relates to, I live in a cluster home and only have 5 lights in the whole house..

None of the lights come on at all...

Apanantly on the front of each of the black boxes i put the fuse wire into it says 15amp...i dont think im supposed to use that wire in a light circet....

I live near London, UK

Answer 1

what u need to is get a torch
then have you will have to switich all the lights off on that circuit thats called a ring main
sometimes you have an upstairs and a downstairs rinng main for the lights
some where in that line you have a failure possibly a broken lamp holder so one by one you must turn them on until you trace the damaged on or pay a fortune to get it sorted REMEMBER
NEVER tamper with a bulb holder it the fuse is still on email [e-mail] if in doubt i will be here for one hour

Answer 2

First and foremost do NOT replace the wire yet. Switch off all the lights in the house, ok i know they do not work, but this is a way of finding out where the fault lies. Use standard lights or some other lights that you plug into the sockets. Now replace the wire in the fuse, it must be rated 5 amps. No more or this will cause a fire, no less or it will "blow" Now go to each switch one at a time and turn it on. If it stays on, fine, leave it on, then go to the next switch etc until all the lights go out again. Be sure to switch it off again. Remove the light bulb form its holder and replace the fuse again. This time go to the switch which caused the fuse to blow and turn this on. Hopefully it was only the bulb "popping" and causing a short circuit. Check the other lights now. If they stay on the popped bulb was your problem. if not called an electrician.
Sorry to be long winded, but a step by step guide is the easiest way to help. Good luck
Why do people talk about appliances plugged in? this is a lighting circuit with only light bulb plugged in

Answer 3

I've read all the answers so far,however, this is probably the trouble.
There is a short that's for sure.
The switch could be defective, bringing the Hot wire to ground.
There could be an over load ,because the appliance or whatever that you have plugged in is drawing more amperage than the fuse will hold. If you still leave the appliance plugged in it will continue to blow the fuse.
If this is your house get the service changed to a panel box that uses circuit breakers, If it is a rental get the Landlord to update the service. Ether way in most states it is illegal to have the electrical circuits protected with fuses. Overload protection should be by circuit breakers and GFIs.
This will prevent you from using the wrong fuse size. If this sounds to complicated please call a qualified electrician it could save your house or even your life.

Answer 4

get a flashlight and check the fusebox to make sure what size fuse is supposed to be in there. Sometimes rather than going to the store someone will replace a say 20 amp fuse with a 15amp fuse. but NEVER replace it with a 30amp fuse as this can cause the wire to overheat and will burn your house down.

If you have a circuit breaker they do sometimes go bad not often but whithin the realm of possibility. In which case you get a liscenced electrixian to replace it. It's a few extra bucks now in return for a lot of piece of mind later.

sometimes if you run like the microwave while the electic oven is on as well as the sweeper and they are all on the same circuit the fuse will blow. Solution don't run the microwave.

Answer 5

firstly turn off all the lights in the house at thier respective switches
and then turn off the main switch on your fuse box disableing all the electric. refit your 5 amp fuse with new wire.. do not put a higher ampage wire in as this may cause a bigger problem. switch back on the main switch after fitting the new fuse wire.
at this stage it should not blow..if it does then call an electrician.
if it doesnt then turn on each light in the house one by one. but remember any lamps plugged into a wall socket are not included, this is just your main built in lighting.
1 of 2 things will happen.
1 all lights come on safely but one has a blown bulb in which case replace that bulb using the normal safety procedures i.e turn electric off and switch to off position before removing bulb and refitting new one.
2 as you turn on the lights one by one sudenly the fuse blows again. in which case replace the bulb in the circuit you last switched on which made it blow again. replace the fuse again as above and try it again. it should be ok now but if it still blows on activating this light switch you will need an electrician again.
good luck and be very carefull..if you are not sure of any of this get someone in who is for your own safety

Answer 6

Can you compare the wire you're replacing it with to the wire in another fuse and see if it's the same or thinner. Then you will know you need a thicker wire. Is there a spare fuse you can take the wire from? If it is the same thickness then you need to call an electrician.

Answer 7

babe move out those fuses went years ago and if I am correct are now illegal. They want replacing with a box that holds trip fuses and just flip off if something disturbs them. I cant think of the name but it the same as you would put in a socket to stop your mower blowing you up.

Answer 8

Maria, good show switching off all the lights. I don't want to scare you, but in reality I am concerned if you try to go round that fuse, and it works, you might burn the place down round your head in your sleep.
When there is an overload the fuse burns out before something overheats and starts a fire.
If you have anyone to call, who knows about these things. Please do so. Maybe it is just one outlet getting too hot, maybe the one running an electric fire, if that is how you heat. But it is still enough to kill you.
--That Cheeky Lad

Answer 9

Maybe try checking all the outlets on the circut to see if there's a short in one of them that keeps blowing the fuse.

Answer 10

is there a short in the circuit causing fuse to blow.
3 amps per strand of cable