when switching bedroom light on

[philhorne]

i fitted new lights in two bedrooms in my bungalow.now when i switch on no 1 bedroom its ok,but if i only switch on no2 bedroom the one in mo1 bedroom comes on dim and no2 goes dim .if however i turn on no 1 bedroon the one in no 2 goes out ,any ideas ?

 

[very_pointy_ears]

Is it possible that you've wired them such that when you've turned both switches into the on position, the bulbs are in series? What happens if you remove one of the bulbs and then put both switches into the on position - does the other bulb still come on?

 

[philhorne]

im not sure ,the lights i fitted are now multi bulb ,they were single,and i wired them as per the old ceiling rose fitting

 

[jj4091]

Sounds like you have your live to room 2 coming from the switch wire in room 1 rather than the live itself. Look at the wikki for lighting circuits then check the connections again at the new j.b.

 

[philhorne]

ok thanks i will try that when i get home ,you see when i fitted the one in room 1 there was no identifing red sleeve on the black wires

 

[ban-all-sheds]

i wired them as per the old ceiling rose fitting

No, you didn't....

 

[philhorne]

yes each wire was put back individual so i knew where they come from

 

[Softus]

yes each wire was put back individual so i knew where they come from

You might have done that in bedroom 2, but either you've introduced a wiring error in bedroom 1, or the lights have always been wired wrongly.

 

[philhorne]

ok but it can only be with the black wiring cant it ?

 

[Softus]

That's impossible to answer, because I don't know what colour insulation your cable has.

If you have only red and black (and bare/green/yellow), then somewhere you've got a black connected to a red. If the new light fitting has a brown, then you might have a black connected to that brown. This is normal, so you've probably got two such connections instead of one.

Read jj4091's post again, and follow that advice.

If you can't identify the switched live wire, i.e. the one that becomes live when the switch is 'on', then you can't proceed without guessing and trying every permutation, some of which would be dangerous.

Do you have a voltage indicator, or multimeter, or any other means of safely determining which is the switched live?

 

[philhorne]

yes i have both

 

[Softus]

In that case, read the wiki, understand how the wiring should be, turn the power off, and armed with your meter set about identifying the cable that's connected to the switch in bedroom 1.

Then, mark the black conductor with a brown sleeve, and re-do the wiring based on the Wiki diagrams.

 

[philhorne]

ok thanks for your help if tthere is anything i can answer for you on cars vans or trucks give me a shout

 

[ban-all-sheds]

yes each wire was put back individual so i knew where they come from

So the lights had this odd linked on/off/dim problem before, did they?

 

[Softus]

yes each wire was put back individual so i knew where they come from

So the lights had this odd linked on/off/dim problem before, did they?

We've already covered that point, and without the sarcasm.