bedroom twoway lighting

[terry1974]

hi folks, im after a little advice please.

mother in laws bedroom, (not a pretty thought i know lol), has a standard wall switch, 1.5 twin and earth wired, not live though. Also has a ceiling pull switch which works the one and only ceiling pendant. She wants this pull switch and wall switch wired as two way.
Which would be the easiest way to do this please.
cheers..

 

[Chri5]

Echo, echo, echo- why 3 posts?

Take the switch wire out of the ceiling rose, pull it back to the pull cord location and run a new switch wire between pull cord and ceiling rose.

http://www.diynot.com/wiki/_media/electrics:lighting:jbharm2w.gif

 

[ban-all-sheds]

mother in laws bedroom, (not a pretty thought i know lol)

Oh, I dunno - not necessarily....

 

[securespark]

You'd need access to find out where the cabling runs to and from.

You say the cable to the wall switch is present but not connected. How have you confirmed this?

If the cabling runs between the two switches (as I suspect), then it is probably disconnected in the pullcord.

It may just need reconnecting.

 

[terry1974]

well iv'e had another look ..... the wall switch has only one T&E cable entering, red to com, black to L2. I have used a visual/audible voltage tester across terminals, with nowt showing.On getting into the loft (i hate lofts, spiders and heights!) the cable is not connected to anything and has been cut and left!

pull cord has only two T&E cables entering into it, and works ok, one circuit and one switch i presume. both reds are wired to Com, the two blacks are wired separately to two unmarked terminals. the pull switch has '2way' embosed on it.

what do i need to do to wire this as a two way switch please??

many thanks




ps, i think i may encounter a similar problem with the two way switching between downstairs hall way and upstairs landing ! It was done apparently by a friend of a friend many years back!! Sounds like a bloody muppet!!

 

[riveralt]

well iv'e had another look ..... the wall switch has only one T&E cable entering, red to com, black to L2. I have used a visual/audible voltage tester across terminals, with nowt showing.On getting into the loft (i hate lofts, spiders and heights!) the cable is not connected to anything and has been cut and left!
pull cord has only two T&E cables entering into it, and works ok, one circuit and one switch i presume. both reds are wired to Com, the two blacks are wired separately to two unmarked terminals. the pull switch has '2way' embosed on it.
what do i need to do to wire this as a two way switch please??

For a two way system you are going to have to get a three core and earth from the wall switch to the pull switch.
But before that, from your description your pull switch appears to have a live loop (2 reds) into the C terminal and a black cable (switch lives?) in each of the L1 and L2 terminals. Do you know where the two reds and two switch lives go/come from? Does one set go to the broken cable that was connected to the wall light? If it does then be very careful because this could be a live cable.
You also need to provide a description or better still photographs of the pendant lamp ceiling rose wiring. It would also help to have photos of the pull switch wiring as well.

 

[terry1974]

hiya,

-there are no wall lights in the room, just a ceiling light worked from the pull switch.

-the pull switch has no labelled terminals other than 'com' in which the two red wires go in to. the other blacks go into two separate terminals.

- the broken cable from the wall switch goes up into the loft and ends, cut straight. This has grey sleeving.

-all other cables in the loft are of white sleeving. no other grey anywhere.

not able to put pics on im afraid!

 

[terry1974]

Oh PS; none of the wires are flagged as switch live or anything!

 

[terry1974]

any more advice please???
i don't really want to get a sparky in, if it is something which i could potentially fix my self.

 

[riveralt]

any more advice please???
i don't really want to get a sparky in, if it is something which i could potentially fix my self.

You aren't getting any responses because you haven't provided the answers to the questions raised - particulary in terms of how the ceiling rose pendant lamp is wired and tracing back the cables from the pull switch to their source.
No photographs does not really help either.
This wiki, which you should already have read, shows you how a two way lighting system should be wired to operate correctly.
http://www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting:two_way_lighting
If you cannot understand how this simply arrangement works then perhaps you should get the electrician in.
By the way, I have no idea why you are talking about wall lamps.

 

[terry1974]

Dear Riveralt, i mention wall lights, as you asked regarding wall light in your previous reply. As i stated previously, there is only a one ceiling light in the room.

i cannot provide anymore info regarding the pull switch as it is not embossed with any 'L' 'N' or 'E' etc.

and i apologise sincerly for not being able to provide a photo at this point. i have given all the information i have been able to gain / find on looking.

i would have thought there would be professional sparkies with years of experience and knowledge of electrical parts on this forum that would not need to look at a picture to enable them to give a little advice!
Perhaps Riveralt, you could prove me wrong!?????

 

[Chri5]

Here's what you have

However you have no switch wire because the pull cord is the switch, and it appears the existing circuit doesnt have an onward circuit feed.

Now this is what you want

Again you have to note the 1st switch is the pull cord and again there is no onward circuit cable.

So you need a 3 core and earth /CPU between the wall socket (use the old wire that's cut as a draw wire) and the pull cord.

Both the pull cord and the wall switch must be 2 way, and if you can't id the terminals on the pull cord no one has any chance. So consider getting a new one on the understand that the terminals will be marked thus avoiding the poke and hope school of DIY.

Now does that help?

 

[Chri5]

Also , you should have sussed this, but it's always good to check- the two cables that exist are the lamp feed and the circuit in. A visual should id which goes to the lamp and which is the circuit.

Neutrals will be together, then you have the live from circuit feed and the switched live which runs out to the lamp.

 

[riveralt]

Dear Riveralt, i mention wall lights, as you asked regarding wall light in your previous reply. As i stated previously, there is only a one ceiling light in the room.

For a two way system you are going to have to get a three core and earth from the wall switch to the pull switch.
But before that, from your description your pull switch appears to have a live loop (2 reds) into the C terminal and a black cable (switch lives?) in each of the L1 and L2 terminals. Do you know where the two reds and two switch lives go/come from? Does one set go to the broken cable that was connected to the wall light? If it does then be very careful because this could be a live cable.
You also need to provide a description or better still photographs of the pendant lamp ceiling rose wiring. It would also help to have photos of the pull switch wiring as well.

Perhaps you could explain where I mentioned wall lights?

i would have thought there would be professional sparkies with years of experience and knowledge of electrical parts on this forum that would not need to look at a picture to enable them to give a little advice!
Perhaps Riveralt, you could prove me wrong!?????

Why do I need to prove you wrong?
Any professional electrician worth his/her salt would make sure he/she had sufficient information to be able to provide a solution to the problem.
But that solution requires a thorough understanding of the current wiring arrangement - the only way I can get that information is by asking you questions and relying on your answers - or by looking at photographs.
Since you cannot or willnot provide photogrpahs and appear not to understand the difference between a wall switch and wall lights - coupled with a still failure to the trace where the two black (switch live?) cables in L1 and L2 go to, it is hardly suprising I will ask more questions and raise the issue of your competence.

 

[terry1974]

Chri5, your'e a bloody star!

Thank you!