The breaker tripped on our downstairs lights and after resetting, the downstairs hall and upstairs landing no longer work, but other lights on the circuit do. The hall has a dimmer switch with I've changed to check, but it also is twinned with the landing. I can get a reading from each switch that they are receiving voltage and I'm confident that they are wired correctly. I've also changed the light bulbs obviously. Any help would be great. Thanks
By Martin H.
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I always recommend a qualified electrician be used to perform electrical work. They have the right tools and know to not work things hot.
The breaker would trip due to an excessive current. In an existing installation, this would probably be caused be a component (switch, dimmer or fixture) failure (short to ground).
Wherever the short was, it blew itself open (short to ground no longer exists). This is evident because you could reset the breaker. But you now have an open to part of your circuit.
Of the three, the dimmer would be the most probable to fail and cause the problem you describe. It could also be a switch if this a three way circuit (dimmer downstairs and switch upstairs control light).
When replacing components make sure that the new dimmer and/or switch is a 3-way if needed.
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