Hi,
First, I should mention that I have used the "do it yourself" bulletin board/forum before for a problem with a ceiling fan and got very helpful advice from very patient moderators, so thanks for that.
Today I'm writing because I am having a problem with three lights in my garage that are/were controlled by a set of three-way switches, one at the top of the stairs that leads into my house and one at the bottom of the stairs.
The problem is that there was a "spark" at one of the lights--more of that later--and I have not been able to turn the lights on since, despite toying around with the switches.
Backing up, the problem began innocently enough. The three light bulbs were in the three separate sockets and all worked. We wanted to replace the bulbs with more energy-efficient bulbs, however.
Because the lights were sunk into the ceiling of our garage, which is quite high, I had to use a pole to grab the light bulbs and twist them out of their sockets. That worked fine for two of the bulbs, and I was able to put in their replacements with no problem.
However, there was a problem when I tried to replace the third bulb. Basically what happened is that I grabbed the bulb with the extension pole and twisted the glass part of the bulb out, but I DID NOT get the metal "collar or sleeve" that is typically attached to the glass and that typically is what screws into the light socket. Somehow the glass part of the bulb and the metal "collar" became disconnected, and the glass part came out but the metal collar stayed in.
But, I didn't notice that at the time, and so I removed the old bulb from the extension pole, put the new replacement bulb in the extension pole, and raised the pole with the new bulb up to the light fixture so I could screw it in. The metal part of the new bulb contacted the metal part of the old bulb (which was still inside the light fixture, minus the glass part of the bulb), and at that point there was some sparking (as I write this, I guess I obviously had the light on and the fuse wasn't switched off).
At that point, I lost the power to all three lights. Like I said, I've toyed around a bit with the switches with no improvement, although no doubt there's more I could have done/may still do.
Does anyone know what I most likely damaged? Would it be the wiring in the ceiling or wall? Or would the problem have traveled back to one or both of the switches? Or the fuse (I can see nothing wrong there, but maybe I guess).
I figured I'd check in with the experts here before I go further to get an opinion. If the most likely problem IS the light switch(es), I'll no doubt be back with some questions about wiring up new replacement store-bought switches to the existing wiring, which has also had me a big confused during my own fixer-upper efforts earlier.
Thanks for your time, I appreciate it.
First, I should mention that I have used the "do it yourself" bulletin board/forum before for a problem with a ceiling fan and got very helpful advice from very patient moderators, so thanks for that.
Today I'm writing because I am having a problem with three lights in my garage that are/were controlled by a set of three-way switches, one at the top of the stairs that leads into my house and one at the bottom of the stairs.
The problem is that there was a "spark" at one of the lights--more of that later--and I have not been able to turn the lights on since, despite toying around with the switches.
Backing up, the problem began innocently enough. The three light bulbs were in the three separate sockets and all worked. We wanted to replace the bulbs with more energy-efficient bulbs, however.
Because the lights were sunk into the ceiling of our garage, which is quite high, I had to use a pole to grab the light bulbs and twist them out of their sockets. That worked fine for two of the bulbs, and I was able to put in their replacements with no problem.
However, there was a problem when I tried to replace the third bulb. Basically what happened is that I grabbed the bulb with the extension pole and twisted the glass part of the bulb out, but I DID NOT get the metal "collar or sleeve" that is typically attached to the glass and that typically is what screws into the light socket. Somehow the glass part of the bulb and the metal "collar" became disconnected, and the glass part came out but the metal collar stayed in.
But, I didn't notice that at the time, and so I removed the old bulb from the extension pole, put the new replacement bulb in the extension pole, and raised the pole with the new bulb up to the light fixture so I could screw it in. The metal part of the new bulb contacted the metal part of the old bulb (which was still inside the light fixture, minus the glass part of the bulb), and at that point there was some sparking (as I write this, I guess I obviously had the light on and the fuse wasn't switched off).
At that point, I lost the power to all three lights. Like I said, I've toyed around a bit with the switches with no improvement, although no doubt there's more I could have done/may still do.
Does anyone know what I most likely damaged? Would it be the wiring in the ceiling or wall? Or would the problem have traveled back to one or both of the switches? Or the fuse (I can see nothing wrong there, but maybe I guess).
I figured I'd check in with the experts here before I go further to get an opinion. If the most likely problem IS the light switch(es), I'll no doubt be back with some questions about wiring up new replacement store-bought switches to the existing wiring, which has also had me a big confused during my own fixer-upper efforts earlier.
Thanks for your time, I appreciate it.
Problem with Garage Lights and Two Three-Way Light Switches
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