Two way lighting not working

[peter m]

They were not they were taped up as not in use

 

[peter m]

You can clearly see the two wires u claim came out did not ,taped up at back of box

 

[terryplumb]

Did you put the old switches back on ,wired according to the way they were before removal, if so what was the result ?

 

[SUNRAY]

You can clearly see the two wires u claim came out did not ,taped up at back of box

You come on here asking for help.
Regardless of what YOU THINK; the advice given about 5 wires is totally correct.

What I see in you pictures is a yellow wire, correctly marked with red tape to indicate it's a live wire and a blue and a black wire, correctly marked with red tape to indicate it's a live wire.
Somehow the blue and black have become disassociated from the switch.

Do us all a favour and terminate the taped up blue and black in the spare terminal and try it.
THEN we can start with other advice IF it still does not work.


This is how it was wired when it was working properly:

Compare that with what you have now.

If you still have the green sleeving please put it back on the bare earth wires.

I will add: Well done for taking the 'before' pictures, it has helped us a lot knowing what was there.

 

[CountryFan]

Im buying a voltage detector pen

Unless it has voltage reading capabilties then please dont as theyre useless for what you need.

To be fair, this (in your opening post) shows terminals but further photos do not

 

[peter m]

You come on here asking for help.
Regardless of what YOU THINK; the advice given about 5 wires is totally correct.

What I see in you pictures is a yellow wire, correctly marked with red tape to indicate it's a live wire and a blue and a black wire, correctly marked with red tape to indicate it's a live wire.
Somehow the blue and black have become disassociated from the switch.

Do us all a favour and terminate the taped up blue and black in the spare terminal and try it.
THEN we can start with other advice IF it still does not work.


This is how it was wired when it was working properly:
View attachment 418403
Compare that with what you have now.

If you still have the green sleeving please put it back on the bare earth wires.

I will add: Well done for taking the 'before' pictures, it has helped us a lot knowing what was there.

I tried the taped up blue and black wires in the switch ,even though they are both live on testing made no difference, since then the other 3 wires on both upstairs and downstairs are all dead ,i did try to pull abit of extra cable through the old metal trunking thus afternoon and both ends are completely dead on testing now,I think I had a loose connection hence power coming and going on testing when wired up to switch, i guess there must be a junction box somewhere under the floorboards upstairs

 

[peter m]

Did you put the old switches back on ,wired according to the way they were before removal, if so what was the result ?

I chucked the old switches away unfortunately, the only reason I have changed them is they are the old fashioned box switches, i wanted flush ones ,initially I changed the hallway no issues whatsoever, problem began when changing the one on the landing

 

[terryplumb]

Which switch is the hallway ,is that the one with taped up wires ?
You say you changed the hallway switch with no problems ,does that mean you tested turning the light on and off from both switches ok ,and then started work on the switch with extended wires ?
If there doesn't appear to be any voltage present at both switch locations ,have you checked for tripped breakers / blown fuses ?

 

[peter m]

Downstairs one i changed few weeks back no issues both switches working on landing and hallway, decided to change the landing one few days ago had to put metal box in the wall etc ,that's the one in the pic with the two wires taped up at back of old box ,my opinion is they were definitely not in the old switch ,i tested both and they are still live though.I have been turning the lighting circuit it off when doing any work and turning it back on when checking if the switches are working, like I said not slot of excess cable upstairs or downstairs to pull through hence I extended the wiring, i have since removed the extended wiring and both ends are dead when the power is back on,maybe the wiring could of come loose under upstairs floor boards, i guess the wiring goes up the old metal trunking inside wall and visa versa down the trunking upstairs

 

[terryplumb]

I assume all other lights on the circuit are working ?
Do you have more than one lighting circuit ( i.e . One breaker for upstairs and one for downstairs) ?
Those non contact voltage sensors are not great to be frank .
Looks like you have a job on your hands to find out why / where the voltage loss stems from ,or engage an electrician .

 

[peter m]

Yes can turn off upstairs lighting and downstairs separately, no issues with any other lights upstairs

 

[terryplumb]

Which circuit are the 2 switches part of ( I assume upstairs circuit)?
As you left a few weeks between changing the hall switch ,and the issue that arose today,
Have you worked on any ceiling light fittings ,or any other switches between,or been in the loft ?

 

[peter m]

Yes upstairs circuit ive had this issue last few days since I changed the upstairs one ,even when the eiring was exactly the same position as how it was wired up on original pics I posted of the old switches it was not working either end ,swapped wires around got it working either upstairs or downstairs, at one point it turned on downstairs and upstairs but if u went downstairs u couldn't turn it off only at the switch u turned it on with, like I say no power in any wires now except the cable that comes down into box from above the one that's not connected but still live ,could I have caused a loose connection in a junction box as both lighting cables didn't have much excess to pull through some extra cable through the trunking in the walls

 

[terryplumb]

Are you saying one of the wires that was originally taped up lights up your voltage sensor ,and no other wires do ?
You would be better off buying a multimeter ,those volt sticks are not gonna be much use to you for fault finding.
Yes ,it's possible that pulling on wires could cause a disconnection. So could many other things ,hence me asking the questions below.

As you left a few weeks between changing the hall switch ,and the issue that arose today,
Have you worked on any ceiling light fittings ,or any other switches between,or been in the loft ?

That remain unanswered.

 

[mikehammer69]

Are you saying one of the wires that was originally taped up lights up your voltage sensor ,and no other wires do ?
You would be better off buying a multimeter ,those volt sticks are not gonna be much use to you for fault finding.
Yes ,it's possible that pulling on wires could cause a disconnection. So could many other things ,hence me asking the questions below.

That remain unanswered.

Voltsticks are very useful but have their limitations

A 2 wire voltage tester with single probe voltage checking(phase tester without using yourself as a path) might be the handiest for switch work

Martindale does one for about 40 euro