2 New light Switches

OK this is starting to annoy me.. I have just bought 2 new light switches. Both are metal and only for the living room and backroom. The living room one is a dimmer switch and the back room one is just a normal one. Now the connections are a black wire and a red one... Not too difficult so far... there is also a Earth wire screwed into the wall.
Now on the dimmer switch there is L1, L2 and an earth socket, also another earth socket on the metal plate itself. I have connected every wire to every socket and nothing seems to work... a couple of times it even shorted out the fuse box:/ I have even had the same problem with the normal metal switch in the backroom. The only thing I could think of is that the switched are faulty but I find that difficult to believe it would happen to both of them.
I hope I am making sense because I realy need help with this... We have just spent a fortune doing up the place and this is the only thing left... Please Help!!!

the dimmer, are you sure it only has 2 connections?

as both switches are metal you should connect them to the earth wire that is in the back box, use a 1mm wire (uoi must have some somewhere?

id you use the bare copper wire it must be covered in green /yellow sleaving. you connect it to the earth on the back of the switch, (terminal attached to the brass plate itself, nothing else, then the other end you connect to the earth wire that is already connected to the metal back box.

just a thought, not the dimmer switch, how many teminals has it, not counting the earth, and name them please

Are you sure that the terminals are marked L1 & L2?

If a switch has only 2 terms, they are usually marked C or Common and L1

A two way switch has C, L1 & L2.

You can use a two way switch as one way just by using C & L1, or if it is a two way dimmer it doesn't matter whether you use C & L1 or C & L2, the result is the same.

When you said you had blown the circuit, I was a bit worried....Don't attach any wire other than the earth wire to the switch body or back box.

OK there are 3 terminals on the dimmer switch but from what you have said I think we have it. You wouldn't belive I have a B-Tec National in Electrical Engineering would you?

Anyway thanks alot you have been a great help