Upstairs/downstairs Lighting switching

Hey! I will try and explain as best as I can! I currently have the upstairs and downstairs lights wired so that from downstairs you can turn either the upstairs or downstairs lights on/off, and vice verse, when upstairs you can turn either the up or down stairs lights on/off!

The problem is that is you turn the upstairs lights on down stairs, you can't turn them off upstairs! and vice verse. So you have to turn on the upstairs lights,go up, switch that light on, go down stairs turn that off, and only then when you go upstairs can you turn it off again!

I have double gang 2 way switches, with a live feed upstairs and downstairs, with a three core cable running between! Is there a way of wiring this up so that you can cut supply with either switch upstairs or down?

I can give more info if required, but I have had nothing but problems as the house was apparently wired up with some strange quirks shall I say, and this has been a long process to get it to a resonable standard! Thank you in advance for any help given!

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/the_jinj/2and3way.jpg

Might help, make sure you turn off the breakers.

Micheal7136 said:

I have had nothing but problems as the house was apparently wired up with some strange quirks shall I say, and this has been a long process to get it to a resonable standard!

Click to expand...

It's a bit worrying that you've been working on your wiring for some time and still don't know how 2-way switching works...

//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting

This picture is clearer.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/528/chockblock2w0bh.gif/

It doesn't matter which colours you use for each terminal.
The only constant is you must have the same colour in the Common terminal in both switches.

I haven't done all the work myself, just bits and pieces. But when I had the loft converted my electrician was pulling his hair out and suggested just having it all ripped out and rewired, unfortunately my budget does not stretch that far! So no need to worry! thanks for the concern! have a wonderful day!

Micheal7136 said:

Hey! I will try and explain as best as I can! I currently have the upstairs and downstairs lights wired so that from downstairs you can turn either the upstairs or downstairs lights on/off, and vice verse, when upstairs you can turn either the up or down stairs lights on/off!

Click to expand...

Well actually you don't have this system according to your next paragraph.

Micheal7136 said:

The problem is that is you turn the upstairs lights on down stairs, you can't turn them off upstairs! and vice verse. So you have to turn on the upstairs lights,go up, switch that light on, go down stairs turn that off, and only then when you go upstairs can you turn it off again!

Click to expand...

Has this just started to happen or has it always been like this?
Have you made any changes to the upstairs/downstairs circuit?

You might want to start by understanding how the lighting circuit you describe in paragraph one works. See Wiki

//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting:two_way_lighting

Scroll down to the diagram below Earths ommitted for clarify.

EFLImpudence said:

This picture is clearer.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/528/chockblock2w0bh.gif/

It doesn't matter which colours you use for each terminal.
The only constant is you must have the same colour in the Common terminal in both switches.

Click to expand...

I thought he said his downstairs switch controlled both the upstairs and downstairs light and the upstairs switch did the same!

I have two switches down and 2 switches upstairs! each of these has it's own live feed. Downstairs has two switches, one switch for the downstairs and one switch for up, and vice verse, there is two switches up stairs one for up and one for down! I must apologise if I have not stated clearly enough!

Micheal7136 said:

I have two switches down and 2 switches upstairs! each of these has it's own live feed. Downstairs has two switches, one switch for the downstairs and one switch for up, and vice verse, there is two switches up stairs one for up and one for down! I must apologise if I have not stated clearly enough!

Click to expand...

In which case you follow the diagram put up by EFLImpudence for each gang upstairs and downstairs - just replace the terminal strip with a ceiling rose if appropriate.