Sparks but switch OK: did I blow the bulbs?

I installed a ton of switches today and on the last one I had some wiring issues. After troubleshooting I realized I had the load for two switches swapped. Easy fix. Switched it back. Activated power and all was good. Until…

I pushed on the switch (it wasn’t seated in the gang yet) and I can only guess that the ground from one switch touched the live load screw in the other.

Sparks flew, the sweet smell of ozone and it was over. The two bulbs controlled by the load were out. The switch (Inovelli red dimmer) seems OK. It still responds to switch presses. Lights light up.

But no lights.

The bulbs are high up. Any chance the bulbs were blown due to the sudden grounding? Or did I break the switch?

My guess is the switch got fried :frowning:
Guess the only way to really know .. is to change the bulbs and or switch.
If you have a "stock/normal " Switch you could test the blubs ?

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Unless you sent 220 volts to the bulb, it should be fine. A dead short before a light bulb looks the same as a power loss to the bulb.

I’m with @WarlockWeary that it is probably the switch. Just because the lights light up only means that part of the switch is working. Is there a way to bypass the switch ?

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I would've thought on a grounded line wire the breaker would've instantly tripped. It did on me.

I mean, I could be wrong about what happened. The second set h is fine. There was a shiny spot on one ground from the other set h with some black around it. So assume that’s what touched something.

It could have shorted line and load on the second switch.

I would think the switch wouldn’t do anything at all if it were fried. I’ve been able to factory reset it and it acts normal.

Swapped in an Inovelli on/off and all is well. So I fried the switch. :frowning:

Oh well. At least I don’t need the ladder.

Thanks for the help/replies.

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