Help with changing an old bathroom ceiling light switch

Hello,

My old switch has two red wires (L) and 2 black (N) and 2 earth wires. The new switch has 3 connectors instead of 4 - L1, L2 and COM-L (and an earth of course).

How do I wire this up? Also, what do I do with the extra 4th wire and earth - insulate and tuck away?

I've looked around for about 2 hours and haven't found a similar situation so apologies in advance if this has already been asked.

Many thanks

There are many ways to wire up lighting circuits. The number and colour of the wires is not enough information.

How many lights, other devices does the switch operate?

How many switches are on the switch plate?

Do other switches operate the same light(s)?

How was the old switch wired?

Journeyman,

Thanks for the reply and sorry for the holes in my info. Here's a few links that should hopefully clarify my situation:

Existing wiring:

here


Old wiring set up:

here


New fixture:

here


Thanks again

P.S. These wires control the ceiling light only - no other dependants as far as I can see.

Photo's make the situation far clearer.
It appears your last switch was double pole. Your new switch is not.
However this is not a problem as light circuits need only have a switched live they do not need to be double pole.

1. Put sleveing on bare earth wires. (not essential but if you can get a little bit of earth sleveing (insulation) this would be good)

2. Join the two black wires together using a connector block and wrap insulation tape over it. Then tuck this out of the way. (up into the back of the box)

3. Connect one RED wire (doesn’t matter which) to the COM terminal at the bottom of the new switch.

4. Connect the other RED to the terminal marked L1.

5. Connect the earths to the terminal as was done before.

6. Fully tighten all connections.

Don't attempt to put one of the blacks into the terminal you have marked B!

As I said the photographs are brilliant to see and fully explain everything.
Well Done!

BR said:

Photo's make the situation far clearer.

>2. Join the two black wires together using a connector block and wrap insulation tape over it. Then tuck this out of the way. (up into the back of the box)

>Don't attempt to put one of the blacks into the terminal you have marked B!

>As I said the photographs are brilliant to see and fully explain everything.
Well Done!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply!

Re. point 2, Just want to confirm - for safety sake. Not sure what a 'connector block' is (sorry, newbie here) Can I simply twist the ends of these black cables together and insulate with electric tape?

Re. terminal B, understood - sorry, that was just a proposed layout from a previous bad suggestion.

Many, many thanks for your feedback. A picture's always worth a thousand words (thus speaks the unemployed graphic designer!)

Cheers!

no you cannot just twist them

connection block comes in various current ratings and is usually soft white plastic it

it has metal blocks inside the plastic which have screws in them used to grip the wire

is comes in long strips of terminals which you cut to the required number of terminals with a sharp knife (or a screwdriver if you are desperate)

any diy ship will probablly sell the stuff

this is "choc block" / connector strip (you want 5 Amp size)

Excellent - many thanks guys. I'll proceed today in the confidence that I'll not be burning the place down.

Cheers!