2 Gang dimmer nightmare

[confannoyed]

Hi Guys!

Hope someone out there can help us out.... a while back we had an electrician in to install some downlights.. and to say the guy ended up being a total nightmare is an understatement... I have no idea where to get a reliable electrician so I thought I'd hit the internet.

about a month ago, my fanch 2gang touch plate dimmer went on the fritz.. 1gang wasn't working... there is an led on each gang plate that is lit when it is recieving power... thisi s an assumption based onthe fact that one of the plates led doesnt light up and subsequently the lights associated with that plate are inoperable.

so I bought a new dimmer, just a 2gang 400w dimmer.. nit so fancy this time.. a push button one..

ok so now the problem.. I took the current switch off the wall and discovered it had less positions to position the cables than the new one... it has 4 (2 on each gang) and the new one has 3 on each.

So I wired it mirriring what i had seen before removing the original switch.. and 1 half of the lights worked (just like before). I was unable, after trying various combinations to get the other switch working.

The first switch is as follows (x represents a cable recepticle,with no label)

2x ____ 1x | 1x _______ 2 x
the left side had a black cable in 2x and crossover cable in 1x
the right side had both crossover and brown cable in 1x


the new switch actually has labels!

L2 ____ L1 _____ C | C _____ L1 _____ L2

so I've left it as

black in left C, crossover in Left L1
crossover and brown in right C


Not many other combos worked (at all). There is a spare taped off gray wire and i tried it in a couple of combos but it did nothing so I taped it off again.

Finally the question.... how on earth do I get both circuits working agian!!!!!

 

[securespark]

Need more info:

Are these lights one way?

Did you make a note of which wires went where on the old switch BEFORE you disconnected them?

 

[confannoyed]

Hi securespark

Thanks for your reply

If by 1 way you mean is this th only switch controlling the lights then yep, though the switch is 2 way. Also yes i made a mental note of where they were in teh previous switch however as i tried to describe above, they are unlabelled terminals and there more terminals in the new switch.

Hope that answers your questions

 

[securespark]

So, there are four conductors in total, controlling two switches each switching a lighting point from one position?

The logical guess is that one pair of conductors controls one light, the other the second.

Are these conductors grouped in a sheath?

 

[confannoyed]

if by conductors you mean cables there are infact 5. 1 is a crossover cabling going from from one gang to the other. The 5th cable is grey and not in use and was taped off. none of them are sheathed together (perhaps i will group them with electrical tape when we work this out!)

i will try and take some photos and post them here

 

[confannoyed]

ok

the old switch

The new switch

 

[1john]

The first switch is as follows (x represents a cable recepticle,with no label)

2x ____ 1x | 1x _______ 2 x
the left side had a black cable in 2x and crossover cable in 1x
the right side had both crossover and brown cable in 1x


the new switch actually has labels!

L2 ____ L1 _____ C | C _____ L1 _____ L2

so I've left it as

black in left C, crossover in Left L1
crossover and brown in right C


Not many other combos worked (at all). There is a spare taped off gray wire and i tried it in a couple of combos but it did nothing so I taped it off again.

Finally the question.... how on earth do I get both circuits working agian!!!!!

Are you suggesting that there was no cable in the right hand "2x" terminal? Have you had any electrical fault finding work done there before the lights stopped working? Is it possible that someone disconnected the grey cable and taped it up due to a fault on it?

 

[1john]

I beleive that this switch is supposed to be wired with the brown bable to common (c - terminal) which is looped from one common to the other. the black needs a bit of brown tape or sleeving on it and that should go to L1 on one side and the grey should go to L1 on the other side.

I would be very wary of connecting the grey cable without it being tested first as i think that it may have been disconnected as it is faulty, you should try and bell it through to the light that isnt working with a continuity tester first.

I presume that the led doesn't light up when there is no load connected to the switch as there is no potential across the switch when it is open.

 

[confannoyed]

thanks 1john... i will try it out today!

 

[confannoyed]

I tried your suggestion for wiring... no change.

The grey cable that was taped off definitely has a current going through it but still no change.