# Two light fixture, one not working



## BradingCon (Dec 17, 2010)

I'll start off by saying that I am not sparky. But I was doing some repairs at a house and the lady showed me a light fixture in the bathroom that quit working. It is a fixture that has two lights connected by a chain. The problem is one light is working and one is not. Obviously she has changed bulbs several times. How do you diagnose this and/or is there a fix? This is a custom light fixture that is a style and shade of blue I could never find to replace.


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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

BradingCon said:


> I'll start off by saying that I am not sparky. But I was doing some repairs at a house and the lady showed me a light fixture in the bathroom that quit working. It is a fixture that has two lights connected by a chain. The problem is one light is working and one is not. Obviously she has changed bulbs several times. How do you diagnose this and/or is there a fix? This is a custom light fixture that is a style and shade of blue I could never find to replace.


Certainly there's a fix.

Hard to visualize this, but first check for a loose wire behind the mounting plate. If that's not it, just remove it and let her take it to a lamp repair store. Install a temporary replacement while that one's being repaired. (won't cost much).


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

If there's one lamp cord type thing weaving down the chain then the problem is probably in the fixture itself. If you have a voltage tester, check for hot and neutral inside the defective socket.

Sometimes (with the power off) just pulling down the tab inside the socket a tiny bit and cleaning it will make the connection if both a hot and neutral are present.

Also bring your own bulb and try it out. When cases of bulbs get dropped they all don't work and they assume it's an electrical problem when actually it's a batch of broken bulbs.

Check these things first.


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## BradingCon (Dec 17, 2010)

Yes just to clarify it is one fixture and two lights about 5 feet apart (on each side of the mirror) connected by a chain.


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## kookoomouse (Jan 31, 2013)

Have her switch the two around just to be sure it didn't get replaced by a bad bulb.


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## amyworks (Mar 23, 2013)

I have "fixed" several fixtures just by bending the metal tab down so it makes proper contact with the bulb.


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## kookoomouse (Jan 31, 2013)

I worked on a foreign machine that were the tabs would not bend free of the base. I resorted to adding solder to the base of the bulb.
Crazy thing was the machine ran on 120 volts but the light sockes ran 220 jacked up thru a transformer. Had to order special 220 incandecents for it. Just plan weird. lol :blink:


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