Any electricians....

[Codewiz]

My mom said her bathroom light wasn't working. Checked the bulb and all that mess.

Went and purchased a new fixture. Installed it. Went to turn it on and it didn't work. So I climb up the ladder and touch the bulb. It immediately turns on.

The light will only turn on if I touch the bulb. The fixture uses a circular fluorescent bulb.

Any idea what is going on? I do not understand why touching the bulb works. I can touch it with a screwdriver, screw, cloth, and it won't turn on unless my skin hits it.

 

[richardycc]

its not grounded.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: richardycc
its not grounded.

probably the right answer

 

[Ornery]

The tiny plugs are probably not making good contact in their socket. When you touch it, the contacts "make". Swap out that fixture, or figure out a way to rework the socket. What was wrong with the old fixture? Maybe you could use that instead.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: Ornery
The tiny plugs are probably not making good contact in their socket. When you touch it, the contacts "make". Swap out that fixture, or figure out a way to rework the socket. What was wrong with the old fixture? Maybe you could use that instead.

he just replaced the fixture. if it only works when he touches it with his skin it has something to do with the resistance and conductivity of your body. my speakers work the same way...the volume knobs have to be touched by skin to raise or decrease the volume (its so sweet).

 

[OffTopic1]

Originally posted by: Ornery
The tiny plugs are probably not making good contact in their socket. When you touch it, the contacts "make". Swap out that fixture, or figure out a way to rework the socket. What was wrong with the old fixture? Maybe you could use that instead.

I second the motion that the contact is lose.

Try clipping into a fresh wire strip then re-screw the wiring, and test with a meter to see if you have contact. Test your hot against the neutral, and hot against ground.

 

[NogginBoink]

Grounding has nothing to do with the problem. The only time the ground wire is important is when there's a fault in the wiring.

Now, it's possible that the neutral wire is open and you're shorting neutral to ground when you touch it (dangerous!) but the more likely answer is loose contacts.

 

[Mark R]

I would say loose contacts first, but if you've already replaced the fixture and the problem persists, I'd say a disconnected neutral wire is the problem. This is a dangerous fault, as the light will appear to be off yet remain live.

 

[Codewiz]

Actually it was a grounding issue.....

Newer Fluorescent lights have a feature that make them turn on quicker without flickering. Well it requires a ground. My mom's house has EXTREMELY old wiring and the ground isn't a true ground. When I would touch the bulb it was grounding it causing it to turn on.

I just went and purchased a regular fixture and put compact fluorescent bulbs in it. Got it all solved now 🙂