One-way switch to Dimmer Switch

[kendor]

kendor it can't make any difference as there is no neutral at the switch anyway

so any current the dimmer draws has to go through the bulb

whichever way round you conenct the dimmer there will be a tiny current in the buld before the main triac in the dimmer triggers

If it didn't matter then manufacturers wouldn't put markings on the terminals! Do you connect Dist Boards or CU's up any old way? NO so why connect up a dimmer the wrong way???

 

[breezer]

in cu and diss boards you have no choice, in a switch you do

 

[kendor]

in cu and diss boards you have no choice, in a switch you do

You're missing the point, I'm saying that you wouldn't connect up a dist board or cu wrongly so why would you connect up a dimmer switch wrongly?
As stated before the L or Com terminal is for the Live and the "Wavy line with arrow" terminal is the output, and thats the way it HAS to be connected!
As for the switch comment, You don't have a choice if you want to do the job properly, choices in this case are for BODGERS!

 

[securespark]

KEN

Does your philosophy apply to plateswitches?

If you have a one way switch fed with twin red, do you ensure that the live feed is connected to common??

 

[kendor]

KEN

Does your philosophy apply to plateswitches?

If you have a one way switch fed with twin red, do you ensure that the live feed is connected to common??

Why do you mention switches when the topic is about dimmers??
In answer to your reply yes i would make sure the live went to common keeping a standard makes it easier when fault finding and again it goes back to a previous posting where i mentioned good practice and attention to small details instead of rushing a job and just chucking it in, not doing a job properly is just sloppiness, of course the connections may be altered by someone ( not a sparks hopefully) later on and the switch may well be wired upside down (single not two way) but at least you can check for that with a tester.

 

[securespark]

I brought switches in because the principle is the same: you can wire a dimmer the "wrong" way round and it will work satisfactorily, as you can a 1 way plateswitch. just wanted to see if your diligence applied there, too.

 

[kendor]

I brought switches in because the principle is the same: you can wire a dimmer the "wrong" way round and it will work satisfactorily, as you can a 1 way plateswitch. just wanted to see if your diligence applied there, too.

You could drive a car in reverse gear everywhere, it would work if you looked over your shoulder but it doesn't mean it's the right way to drive.
I disagree with your wording "satisfactorily" in this instance. we all know about the reversal of the AC current arguments but we try to keep to standards when we connect up equipment ie switches in the live side as opposed to the neutral it would still switch the light on and off but we would still see a live at the light and thats something we have accepted down the ages as not a good thing, when you make a circuit all components of that circuit are in series and the order of those components wouldn't make any difference in an AC circuit as to the operation of the circuit across the supply but does that mean it is connected properly to satisfy our accepted standards of practice?
Can you see the point i'm trying to make?

 

[securespark]

Not really, no.

 

[kendor]

Not really, no.

Ok I'll try to make it as simple as i can for you,
if we take the three components of the circuit, the dimmer switch, the load(lamp) and the supply itself, the switch and lamp will go across the supply and we would say that they the two components are in parallel to the supply, if we drew a circuit diagram we tend to make it rectangular with the supply coil (vertical) at the left hand side, the lamp (vertical) at the right hand side with the switch (horizontal) at the top, the lighting circuit is parallel across the supply OR IS IT?
draw the circuit again this time in a circle, each component could be said to be in parallel with the other two components but to current flow all components are in series! the only thing different is that the supply coil will have an earth tapping off one end of it, as under normal conditions this is an open ended wire then it doesn't influence current flow in any way, If there was an earth fault it would short out all , some or none of the components depending on where the fault was but the circuit would remain a series circuit as far as current flow was concerned, even if the short went across the supply coil it would be seen as a series circuit albeit with no resistance.
but we have conventions or standards and we accept that anything connected to the supply will be paralleled to it Live at the top of the coil and neutral at the bottom, doing it this way makes the circuit easier to understand,
So when you start connecting things up wrongly they may still work but you are not complying to accepted standards and are just making it awkward for the next person who has to fault find.
If you are unable to understand that then I don't think you should be calling yourself a spark to be honest!