Which type switch do I need?

[SUNRAY]

We usually calls them three way (or more if appropriate) switching but hey ho if you calls it something that makes sense to you and everybody else then all well and good.
There was probably an assumption it was two floors or more rather than just the one and each end would need a two way switch (although an intermediate switch could be used as a two way switch) and any further switches (if they exist) would need to be intermediate switches,

So for 100 way switching you would need 2 x two way switches and 98 intermediate switches
(not many houses have that many though!)

I did a corridor with about 25 a few years back but no not a domestic/DIY situation... although the c****y us**ss idiot calling himself an electrician who spent nearly 2 days on 2nd fix was far more unfit than most enquirers on here. Then I undid all of his work and wired it in a couple of hours job&knock.

 

[ebee]

Yes Sunray, there are times when its the better option to remove what has already been done and start again from scratch.
Lighting switch options have a very few simple variations as a basic then sometimes differing ones from each of those and then slightly mixing the few can cause some difficulty for others to follow on from (even experienced electricians sometimes) and thats just if it is all actually technically correct. But if they compound it further by including the odd nonsensical mistake into the mix then you need to be extremely fearless to crack on and correct it and see if correcting one mistake and then revealing another one (or three!).

It can be amazing how many have got things wrong before you see it and attempt to follow their thought process.

It can be fun but very time consuming.

It seems to happen with lighting more than anything else.

 

[SUNRAY]

Yes Sunray, there are times when its the better option to remove what has already been done and start again from scratch.
Lighting switch options have a very few simple variations as a basic then sometimes differing ones from each of those and then slightly mixing the few can cause some difficulty for others to follow on from (even experienced electricians sometimes) and thats just if it is all actually technically correct. But if they compound it further by including the odd nonsensical mistake into the mix then you need to be extremely fearless to crack on and correct it and see if correcting one mistake and then revealing another one (or three!).

It can be amazing how many have got things wrong before you see it and attempt to follow their thought process.

It can be fun but very time consuming.

It seems to happen with lighting more than anything else.

The really annoying thing is we had AV kit to install in many of the rooms along one side of the corridor, this was a whole floor being completely refurbished and our contract was closed ended with significant penalties for overrunning. We were given a start date for that area but very late it was put back a day, the next day put off again and told we were not allowed along there until the corridor electrics were completed for safety which was expected during that day. Mid afternoon on the third day when the electrician had left and after repeated complaints about the electricians inabilities to the site manager on the second and then third days of our contract dates I informed we would be pulling off site as we had run out of work, he passed on the cr@p he'd been told about it being a very complicated circuit due to the number of switches involved which I poo pood and explained it was one of the easiest things to wire. I offered to wire the whole thing, but not test or certify!, for a days pay or we pull out until he called us back and put the delay blame firmly on the managers responsibility. I did all of that on the sites own carbon copied 'request for information' forms so fully documented.

He promptly accepted my quote.

For first fix 2 x 3C&E had been run between the many switches which were luckily white and grey. The electrician had wired less than half of the switches (which were still hanging on the cables) and switched back and forth between the 6 wires. (I'd seen him wire a switch, repower and try, repeat multiple times). In under 2 hours I'd reterminated all of his work and completed the rest, including screwing the switches in and IR check with basic multimeter at each stage.

The manager then unlocked the MCB and we walked up and down the corridor checking function then the slap in the face: "There can't have been much left to do." He was surprised when I explained I'd redone every single bit the electrician had done.

I got my days pay for 3 extra hours on site. And we completed on time with an extra guy on site.

 

[morqthana]

Don't talk to me about f------ electricians not being able to do f------ lighting. I had an extension and what our US chums call "remodeling" work finished last year, but for a number of reasons I didn't get round to installing one of the ceiling lights in the living room until earlier this year. Far too late to get the builder's dozy t--- back when I found what he'd done.

I'd told him I wanted two switched lives to that lighting point.

I'd told him it was because the light had two separate sections, independently switched.

The requirement was documented on the written spec I gave him.

What did he do? Not bother to listen to what I said, not bother to read the spec, and/or assume I was a fool who asked for "two switched lives" when what I actually wanted was "two-way switching".

So that's what he did. Twin & Earth to the light, and utterly pointless two-way switching between switches so close (back-to-back either side of the pier left when a dividing wall is removed) that if I had hands the size of Michael Jordan I could touch them both at the same time with the same one.

For now I've paralleled the two sections of the light, but it's very unsatisfactory. I can get at the wiring under the floor upstairs with a bit of hassle, but doable.

I don't want to try pulling a replacement cable from the switch - there are cables for 6 lights running through what I guess will be capping.

I'm giving very serious thought to doing something naughty between the switch and where the cables pop up into the floor void in order to get my second switched live.

 

[SUNRAY]

Don't talk to me about f------ electricians not being able to do f------ lighting. I had an extension and what our US chums call "remodeling" work finished last year, but for a number of reasons I didn't get round to installing one of the ceiling lights in the living room until earlier this year. Far too late to get the builder's dozy t--- back when I found what he'd done.

I'd told him I wanted two switched lives to that lighting point.

I'd told him it was because the light had two separate sections, independently switched.

The requirement was documented on the written spec I gave him.

What did he do? Not bother to listen to what I said, not bother to read the spec, and/or assume I was a fool who asked for "two switched lives" when what I actually wanted was "two-way switching".

So that's what he did. Twin & Earth to the light, and utterly pointless two-way switching between switches so close (back-to-back either side of the pier left when a dividing wall is removed) that if I had hands the size of Michael Jordan I could touch them both at the same time with the same one.

For now I've paralleled the two sections of the light, but it's very unsatisfactory. I can get at the wiring under the floor upstairs with a bit of hassle, but doable.

I don't want to try pulling a replacement cable from the switch - there are cables for 6 lights running through what I guess will be capping.

I'm giving very serious thought to doing something naughty between the switch and where the cables pop up into the floor void in order to get my second switched live.

Perhaps you could then say that is how he wired it?