[Kevin_Sal]

Hi everyone,

I have a multi light pendant ceiling lighting fixture in my bedroom which was installed by the home builder about 7 years ago. For some odd reason, when I turned on the bedroom light, 5 of the bulbs burnt out simultaneously. This was odd, because I had a few bulbs burn out in the past but only one at a time, and when I replaced them with a new bulb it worked perfectly fine. This time a group of 5 bulbs just wouldn't turn on. I actually tested the bulbs individually, and they are in fact fine and not burnt, so it must be something else causing a section of the light fixture to malfunction. I don't know the brand name of the light fixture but all I know is that it takes 12V 10W halogen G4 bulbs and the light fixture is controlled by a dimmer light switch.

Do you guys think this is fixable, or should I purchase a new light fixture? I really like the design of this pendant lighting and I don't think I can find the same one, unless someone might know the brand name. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, thank you for your help.

 

[AllanJ]

The spokes coming out from the fixture center are the live 12 volt "bus bars." It appears to me that one spoke has gone dead due to a loose connection. At 12 volts they are not dangerous to touch.

I cannot explain why five bulbs burned out simultaneously. Actually the bulbs should last longer if you turn the fixture on slowly using the dimmer switch and don't turn it up all the way.

It is important that you turn off the fixture before touching it. If any of the wires touch where they are not supposed to, you can short out and burn out the transformer.

Have you noiticed any abnormal dimming of lights elsewhere in the house? (Incandescent or halogen lights would reveal any of this more noticeably.)

 

[Kevin_Sal]

Thanks Allan for your quick reply, I haven't noticed any abnormal dimming of lights anywhere in the house. If I understand you correctly, you want me to turn off the light fixture by using the switch (not circuit breaker) and play around with the wires to see if there are any loose connections. And if there is a loose connection in the 'bus bar', I need to take down the entire light fixture in order to see where the loose connection is within the bus bar. And for this step I definitely need to turn off the breaker.

 

[AllanJ]

The significance of lights dimming elsewhere in the house is that certain problems with the neutral could cause overvoltage to occur at this light fixture and also everything else on the circuit. That could burn out several bulbs at once.

You can turn off either the switch or the breaker (to turn the light off) before touching the fixture parts with the fixture still on the ceiling. No wires or parts should touch each other except where they are clamped or fastened together.