House Electrical Advise Please
13 February 2005, 08:59 PM
#1
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House Electrical Advise Please
Can anyone help, I've replaced the lights in one of my bedrooms, and wanted to change the switch, I took the old one off and replaced it with a new one and found some interesting results. Firstly there are THREE RED wires goimg to the switch, two in in one side (same contact point) and one the other.
Take the first as wire ONE
Take the Second as Wire TWO
Take the thrid as Wire THREE.
Leaving the switch removed and all 3 unconnected means the light is OFF AS ARE ALL THE REST OF THE UPSTAIRS LIGHTS!
wire ONE and TWO together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire ONE and THREE together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire THREE and TWO together means all the lights are OFF, nothing switches ON
What have I done wrong ??
Any help is gratfully recieved
Take the first as wire ONE
Take the Second as Wire TWO
Take the thrid as Wire THREE.
Leaving the switch removed and all 3 unconnected means the light is OFF AS ARE ALL THE REST OF THE UPSTAIRS LIGHTS!
wire ONE and TWO together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire ONE and THREE together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire THREE and TWO together means all the lights are OFF, nothing switches ON
What have I done wrong ??
Any help is gratfully recieved
13 February 2005, 09:08 PM
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Take the first as wire ONE
Take the Second as Wire TWO
Take the thrid as Wire THREE.
Leaving the switch removed and all 3 unconnected means the light is OFF AS ARE ALL THE REST OF THE UPSTAIRS LIGHTS!
wire ONE and TWO together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire ONE and THREE together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire THREE and TWO together means all the lights are OFF, nothing switches ON
Take the Second as Wire TWO
Take the thrid as Wire THREE.
Leaving the switch removed and all 3 unconnected means the light is OFF AS ARE ALL THE REST OF THE UPSTAIRS LIGHTS!
wire ONE and TWO together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire ONE and THREE together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire THREE and TWO together means all the lights are OFF, nothing switches ON
you need to get your wiring looked at.
13 February 2005, 09:37 PM
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read through what you have just wrote!! have a think , walk away , get a cup of tea and it will come to you !!! the answer is within the question!...
Originally Posted by Foxmod
Can anyone help, I've replaced the lights in one of my bedrooms, and wanted to change the switch, I took the old one off and replaced it with a new one and found some interesting results. Firstly there are THREE RED wires goimg to the switch, two in in one side (same contact point) and one the other.
Take the first as wire ONE
Take the Second as Wire TWO
Take the thrid as Wire THREE.
Leaving the switch removed and all 3 unconnected means the light is OFF AS ARE ALL THE REST OF THE UPSTAIRS LIGHTS!
wire ONE and TWO together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire ONE and THREE together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire THREE and TWO together means all the lights are OFF, nothing switches ON
What have I done wrong ??
Any help is gratfully recieved
Take the first as wire ONE
Take the Second as Wire TWO
Take the thrid as Wire THREE.
Leaving the switch removed and all 3 unconnected means the light is OFF AS ARE ALL THE REST OF THE UPSTAIRS LIGHTS!
wire ONE and TWO together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire ONE and THREE together means the light in the room is ON (always) and I can switch the rest of the upstairs on and off
wire THREE and TWO together means all the lights are OFF, nothing switches ON
What have I done wrong ??
Any help is gratfully recieved
13 February 2005, 09:50 PM
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Wire it up in the new switch exactly the way you found it in the old switch!
Clearly the two wires that share one pole are what continues live on for the rest of the lights upstairs so they must remain sharing one pole of the switch (normally this occurs in the ceiling rose not the switch). The wire on its own goes to the bedroom light.
Clearly the two wires that share one pole are what continues live on for the rest of the lights upstairs so they must remain sharing one pole of the switch (normally this occurs in the ceiling rose not the switch). The wire on its own goes to the bedroom light.
13 February 2005, 09:53 PM
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So, when you say you're putting wires 1&2, 2&3 and 1&3 together, you're obviously putting the remaining wire in the other contact point?
13 February 2005, 09:54 PM
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Originally Posted by ajm
Wire it up in the new switch exactly the way you found it in the old switch!
Clearly the two wires that share one pole are what continues live on for the rest of the lights upstairs so they must remain sharing one pole of the switch (normally this occurs in the ceiling rose not the switch). The wire on its own goes to the bedroom light.
Clearly the two wires that share one pole are what continues live on for the rest of the lights upstairs so they must remain sharing one pole of the switch (normally this occurs in the ceiling rose not the switch). The wire on its own goes to the bedroom light.
13 February 2005, 10:00 PM
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His test doesn't quite make sense though.
If you took turns connecting just two wires together (leave the remaining one) the three combinations should be:-
1) Bedroom light always on, rest of upstairs always off
2) Bedroom light always off, rest of upstairs works fine
3) Nothing works
Using these examples:
The common wire used in both 1) and 2) is your Live
The other wire used in 1) is to the bedroom light
The remaining wire continues power to the rest of upstairs
You need to do it two wires at a time because if you connect the remaining wire to the other side of the switch then depending whether the switch is on or off will affect the result!
If you took turns connecting just two wires together (leave the remaining one) the three combinations should be:-
1) Bedroom light always on, rest of upstairs always off
2) Bedroom light always off, rest of upstairs works fine
3) Nothing works
Using these examples:
The common wire used in both 1) and 2) is your Live
The other wire used in 1) is to the bedroom light
The remaining wire continues power to the rest of upstairs
You need to do it two wires at a time because if you connect the remaining wire to the other side of the switch then depending whether the switch is on or off will affect the result!
Last edited by ajm; 13 February 2005 at 10:07 PM.
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26 February 2005, 11:41 PM
#8
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thanks all for the replies, cracked it today, .....
Wire 1 was the always on live feed
Wire 3 was the one leading to the bedroom light
Wire 2 was the lead to the rest of the upstairs...........but was connected to Wire 1 and 3 in the light fitting I put up earlier
The Answer :-
Wire 1 and 2 together on one side of the switch with Wire 3 the onther side.
Wire 3 to the light fitting
Other 2 wire in the fitting join together
Only took 2 hours today and the use of my PC Based DMM
Wire 1 was the always on live feed
Wire 3 was the one leading to the bedroom light
Wire 2 was the lead to the rest of the upstairs...........but was connected to Wire 1 and 3 in the light fitting I put up earlier
The Answer :-
Wire 1 and 2 together on one side of the switch with Wire 3 the onther side.
Wire 3 to the light fitting
Other 2 wire in the fitting join together
Only took 2 hours today and the use of my PC Based DMM
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