Out Door Lights

[Suejlunn]

Hi all we recently had some outdoor lights fitted in our garden by an electrician.
They are IP44.
All the lights on one side stopped working together.
I know nothing about electrical things . Would the problem be with the lights or wiring . The wiring is new .

[retrocop]

Could be a fuse or Circuit breaker tripped. There could be loads of reasons depending on the lights. Are they mains?. I don't know what IP44 represents.

[bhg481]

If all the lights failed at the same time it's most likely a fuse blown. Are the lights powered via a transformer or directly from the mains; if a transformer there maight be one for each side of the garden and one has failed. Start with the fuses.

[retrocop]

Found them

https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?p=can+i+use+ip44+lights+outside&;fr=yfp-t-s&fp=1&toggle=1&cop=mss&;ei=UTF-8

[The Builder]

IP44 Retro

Ingress Protection. The 44 means you can safely poke them with a screwdriver and throw water at them ;o)

As bhg says, we need more information...

Wall lights?
Mains LEDS?
Garden lights?

You say "on one side", so I guess others are still ok?
Unlikely for several lights to fail simultaneously, so I would guess it's a faulty wiring connection at the head of the circuit on that side.
That is, if the fuses/circuit breakers are ok

First call ... fuses/circuit breakers

[Suejlunn]

There are 6 lights and one high lamp post .
All stopped at the same time . My electrician said it’s caused by water getting into the lights .
My fuses all look ok

[ToraToraTora]

if they've been connected in series then one bulb failure could do it. Check all the bulbs.

[The Builder]

Thanks for coming back Sue.

I guess the electrician is just giving you his preferred option. "Not my problem - faulty lights Mrs"

Well, if the fuses are ok, then that should rule out his opinion. Water getting in would cause the fuse/circuit breaker to operate.

Unfortunately, what you need is a co-operative electrician to investigate - not give unfounded opinion.

Do you have an old type fusebox (fuses) or a modern consumer unit with circuit breakers and RCD trips?

[Maydup]

A similar thing happened to us although they didnt all fail on the same day.
As the bulbs went in our old outside lights we swapped them in a single weekend for new LEDs, but they all lasted about 2/3 months.
My elecrician friend says that they we need at last IP65 for protection against the rain. IP 44 is shower proof and with this recent wet weather i think it is possible for yours to have been ruined in a single downpour. If your electrician supplied them, then complain. But if you bought them from B&Q like we did, you can bet your life they were poorly made in the far east. Try reading some reviews of your make and model. They shouldnt be selling them, everyone has same problem and they are rubbish.

We're just bought another set online that are a bit more expensive, IP65 and made in Europe. With good reviews, fingers crossed.

[The Builder]

Maydup - I'm afraid electricians are like plumbers - you can never get any two of them to agree on anything. They tend to "over prescribe" just to be sure.

IP44 (the last number is in regard to waterproof-ness) is much more than Shower proof. It means there are no effects when constantly splashed by water, even wind-driven.

IP65 (the 5 is in regard to water) is able to withstand a jet of water such as a hose directly applied to it. Something rarely encountered ;o)

Anyway, these numbers are nothing to do with quality or reliability. I've thrown away a few IP65 lights in the past, only because they were cheap substandard imports. You're dead right about quality, but the IP rating has no bearing on it.

[Suejlunn]

It’s a modern fuse box I expect your right and electrician doesn’t want to know . Thank you everyone

[woodchopper]

Just a guess, there may be a breaker inside the high Lamp post as there are in street lights - could be if it is first in line for the series of lights.

[Ryzen]

TTT...if they were connected in series I would be very worried:-)

[bhg481]

Ryzen - why worried? It used to be standard practice to wire say 20 x 12v bulbs in series to work off 240v. The problem was when one bulb failed the whole lot went out and it was hard work to find the faulty one.

[Ryzen]

Agreed bhg...however we have moved on a bit now..unless we are talking fairy lights :-)