Hi all,
I'm looking to replace an old-style rotary dimmer switch in my lounge with a new fangled remote control one, but I have a question about how I should wire this up . . .
The existing dimmer switch has two wires going into it: the brown wire which goes into the "L" terminal on the dimmer, and a blue wire going into a terminal on the dimmer that looks like a wavy line with an arrow through it !
The replacement remote control dimmer has the same terminals, so it should be easy enough - just swap the wires over.
The backbox is a metal backbox and has an earthing cable going to a terminal at the back of the metal box.
The new remote control dimmer has a metal faceplate which has a plastic cover that clips over it. Becuase of this there is an earthing terminal on the metal faceplate too and the instructions that come with the remote control dimmer say that because it has a metal faceplate it MUST be earthed. My question is how do I go about earthing the metal faceplate ?
The two options that I can think of are:
1. Unscrew the earth cable that goes to the metal backbox and wire this to the metal faceplate instead, but surely that would leave the metal backbox unearthed, and I assume it is earthed for a reason.
2. Get a new bit of cable and connect one end to the earthing terminal at the back of the metal backbox (along with the existing cable) and connect the other end to the earthing terminal on the metal faceplate of the dimmer.
If option 2 is the way to go, then what cable do I have to use - can I just use something I have lying around, or does it have to be anything special.
If neither options above are correct, can someone point me in the right direction please !
Many thanks,
Chris
I'm looking to replace an old-style rotary dimmer switch in my lounge with a new fangled remote control one, but I have a question about how I should wire this up . . .
The existing dimmer switch has two wires going into it: the brown wire which goes into the "L" terminal on the dimmer, and a blue wire going into a terminal on the dimmer that looks like a wavy line with an arrow through it !
The replacement remote control dimmer has the same terminals, so it should be easy enough - just swap the wires over.
The backbox is a metal backbox and has an earthing cable going to a terminal at the back of the metal box.
The new remote control dimmer has a metal faceplate which has a plastic cover that clips over it. Becuase of this there is an earthing terminal on the metal faceplate too and the instructions that come with the remote control dimmer say that because it has a metal faceplate it MUST be earthed. My question is how do I go about earthing the metal faceplate ?
The two options that I can think of are:
1. Unscrew the earth cable that goes to the metal backbox and wire this to the metal faceplate instead, but surely that would leave the metal backbox unearthed, and I assume it is earthed for a reason.
2. Get a new bit of cable and connect one end to the earthing terminal at the back of the metal backbox (along with the existing cable) and connect the other end to the earthing terminal on the metal faceplate of the dimmer.
If option 2 is the way to go, then what cable do I have to use - can I just use something I have lying around, or does it have to be anything special.
If neither options above are correct, can someone point me in the right direction please !
Many thanks,
Chris
