Pull cord bathroom light won`t turn off

Hi,
My pull cord bathroom light isn`t going off tonight, so i`m looking for a bit of advice...

Until I can get an electrician out tomorrow, is it safe enough just to turn the electric off for the lights in the house and leave the electric on for the freezer etc....

Hope you understand what I mean by the above?

I don`t like the idea of just leaving the light on all night as it is.

Thanks for any help :)

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Comments

  • tbh i'd leave the light on rather than turn the whole electrics off. Sure the cord isn't just being a pain?

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  • Is that safe though?

    I`d be worried about waking up to a fire. I know it sounds dramatic, but I do have a fear of that.

    I`ve given it several good tugs and it just isn`t behaving itself. I will try again before bed in the hope it works.

    I`ve got two switches for my electric... one deal with the lights only and the other is for everything else. I`m hoping it`s alright to just switch the all the lights off and leave the other as it is.

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  • kizziekizzie Guest Posts: 5,756

    Forum Member

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    Lights dont start a fire leaving them on all evening/ night, so why would it start a fire now.

    If you turn off at the mains and need a light in the middle of the night, you just might trip up and kill yourself :D

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  • Leaving a light on is unlikely to cause a fire.

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  • I turn as much as possible off at night. Yes I know how silly that is :)

    You make a good point about needing a light in the night, never thought about that to be honest.

    I guess i`ll be brave and leave it on for the night :)

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  • Thanks to both of you for the help :)

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  • Turn off light circuit, remove bulb in bathroom (using torch to see), turn lighting circuit back on. Simple!

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  • Turn off light circuit, remove bulb in bathroom (using torch to see), turn lighting circuit back on. Simple!

    As long as the OP doesn't get an uncontrollable urge to stick their fingers in the bulb socket, :D

    Put a dead bulb in it to be on the safe side,

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  • As long as the OP doesn't get an uncontrollable urge to stick their fingers in the bulb socket, :D

    Things haven`t got that bad you know :D

    I`ll stick with just leaving it as it is and get an electrician to deal with it tomorrow.

    Thanks for the replies.

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  • Leaving a light on all night won't cause a fire :)

    I know someone's bathroom light cord broke years ago & ever since they have the light on permanently!! Their house hasn't burnt down....:p

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  • Hi I'm a sparks,
    It would be fine to leave it on all that is wrong by the sounds of it is the spring has gone in the unit, can't your other half or some other competent person change it cos you can buy a new pull cord for about £1-2 and its only 2 wires and a earth and will take approx 5mins if that to swop!!
    Most sparks charge on a min 1 hour rate so it could be anything from £25+ depending on were in the uk you live.
    Jst a thought......
    (P.S. make sure the power is turned off first!!) ;-)

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  • replaced one recently and its a doddle to do so long as you have some steps to get close enough and a screwdriver or 2 and the best part is that you get a nice looking pull cord not some manky 30 year old tea stained thing

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  • Well I survived the night with the light on :)

    I`m going to ask a couple of people if they have ever changed one like that before, but i`m not trusting anyone who hasn`t and claims it shouldn`t be hard to do.

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  • Replacing a pullcord switch is the sort of job that any competent DIYer should be able to do.

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  • It may just be that the string has come off the switch inside the cover, we had one that would do this every few weeks.

    Unscrew the cover from the switch and see if the string comes away with it.

    If so it can usually be screwed back on to the switch with no need for an electrician.

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  • Well I survived the night with the light on :)

    I`m going to ask a couple of people if they have ever changed one like that before, but i`m not trusting anyone who hasn`t and claims it shouldn`t be hard to do.

    Honestly, it's NOT hard to change a switch - I've done it several times. Especially if you've got circuit breakers, and you can isolate the lighting circuit. Just take careful note of where each wire goes in to the old switch (make a diagram if you're not sure), and replace with the new switch in exactly the same way. And you feel SO pleased with yourself when you've done it and it works! You can't electrocute yourself if you've isolated the circuit (usually marked as "upstairs lighting", or maybe just "lighting" if you're in a flat).

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  • My brother sorted it all out for me thankfully. I`m really not confident enough myself to go and mess with electrics, so left it to him as he`s done it before.

    Thanks for all the replies.

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  • Andy_GAndy_G Posts: 11,437

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    My brother sorted it all out for me thankfully. I`m really not confident enough myself to go and mess with electrics, so left it to him as he`s done it before.

    Thanks for all the replies.

    You did the right thing, it's really not worth risking getting electricuted if you don't know exactly what you're doing.
    I've had a few bangs and shocks in my time, and it's no fun.
    :)

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