2 Way Light Switch - 1 Switch is back to front

After teaching myself the necessary skills I put in a new kitchen just over a year ago and installed new wiring throughout. It was all inspected and the electrics were signed off by a qualified electrician. The only thing I didn't finish wiring up was the LED mood lighting. The main wiring was completed all the way to the power transformer that sits above one of the kitchen units (so as good as finished), but the LED strip lights themselves weren''t installed and wired up to the transformer - a job I thought I'd complete after a couple weeks break.

80 weeks later (!) and I've finally gotten round to completing the job. I've installed all the LED strip lights and they work a charm and look good, but I've uncovered a small but frustratingly odd issue. The light switch is back to front.

My kitchen's primary light socket is a 2-way 3 gang light switch. Only the first gang/switch operates on a 2-way circuit though (the main kitchen ceiling light can be turned on at the primary switch and at the other end of the kitchen on a secondary 2-way switch). The second gang/switch operates as a 1-way switch to operate a pendant light, and the third gang/switch operates as a 1-way switch to operate the LED mood lighting (specifically to provide power to the aforementioned power transformer).

All the switches work, but the third switch for the LED mood lighting is back to front. To keep things simple all the lights are supposed to be OFF when the switches are in at the top and out at the bottom. But the LED mood lighting switch is ON when it's in that position.

The brown wire was in 'COMMON' and the blue wire was in 'L1'. I thought that the brown and blue wires must simply be round the wrong way, so I swapped them round, but nothing changed?! The switch still operates the exact same way and the LED lighting is ON when the switch is in the OFF position.

I've included a few photos of the 2-way 3 gang light switch in question, and the LED mood lighting power transformer, just to better explain the wiring.

The brown and blue wires are the 2 nearest the camera which serve gang/switch number 3.

Is there a simple way to get the switch to operate like it's 2 sister switches and be OFF when the switch is IN at the top and OUT at the bottom? At the moment the lights are all OFF when the switches are positioned as in the photo below.







The issue seems like it should be so simple to resolve (and maybe it is!?) but I just can't get my head round it.

Thanks very much.

eyedee said:

After teaching myself the necessary skills

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!!!!!!?

The brown wire was in 'COMMON' and the blue wire was in 'L1'. I thought that the brown and blue wires must simply be round the wrong way, so I swapped them round, but nothing changed?!

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Yes.

Put the blue wire in L2.

Not sure what '!!!!!!?' means as I obviously taught myself the necessary skills in order for the qualified electrician to check my work thoroughly and provide me with the Part P certificate without any issues or concerns whatsoever. I have, however, forgotten much of what I learned over a year ago.

Anyway, thanks endecotp, I had already attempted that but it doesn't work. It doesn't turn on at all when the blue wire is placed in L2.

That power supply is designed to be installed in an enclosure, having the mains wiring exposed like that is not good. There should be grommets fitted to the cable entry holes on the switch box. The switch wires should be correctly identified as line conductors with coloured sleeving etc.

eyedee said:

Anyway, thanks endecotp, I had already attempted that but it doesn't work. It doesn't turn on at all when the blue wire is placed in L2.

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Switch is faulty, then.

eyedee said:

It doesn't turn on at all when the blue wire is placed in L2

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I assume you have put the brown wire back in the COM terminal

eyedee said:

Not sure what '!!!!!!?' means as I obviously taught myself the necessary skills in order for the qualified electrician to check my work thoroughly and provide me with the Part P certificate without any issues or concerns whatsoever.

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You obviously do not have the necessary skills as you have demonstrated that you haven't even the grasp of a simple changeover switch.
I hope that your electrician has been checking and approving your work as the project progresses.
Only a liar will certify work, as his own, after its all been completed by somebody else.

...

Like has already been said, brown in the common and blue (which will obviously have brown sleeving on as you've learnt the necessary skills) into L2 if that doesn't work then the switch is faulty
Could always turn the switch upside down and alter the other two if this is the case

Echo the husky said:

That power supply is designed to be installed in an enclosure, having the mains wiring exposed like that is not good. There should be grommets fitted to the cable entry holes on the switch box. The switch wires should be correctly identified as line conductors with coloured sleeving etc.

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Thanks for that. It's not 'designed' to be enclosed, but it certainly can be under some circumstances and requirements. As far as I have been led to understand there is no legal requirement for it to be enclosed in my situation (away from water and up out of reach of people and animals). If I am wrong I'd be very pleased to see evidence to the contrary.

Taylortwocities said:

eyedee said:

It doesn't turn on at all when the blue wire is placed in L2

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I assume you have put the brown wire back in the COM terminal

eyedee said:

Not sure what '!!!!!!?' means as I obviously taught myself the necessary skills in order for the qualified electrician to check my work thoroughly and provide me with the Part P certificate without any issues or concerns whatsoever.

Click to expand...

You obviously do not have the necessary skills as you have demonstrated that you haven't even the grasp of a simple changeover switch.
I hope that your electrician has been checking and approving your work as the project progresses.
Only a liar will certify work, as his own, after its all been completed by somebody else.

Click to expand...

Yes, I have placed the brown wire back in the COM terminal. Thanks.

It would be lovely to ask a question on a forum or share something interesting without seemingly egotistical users feeling they have some kind of right to ignorantly suggest that the op was stupid/uneducated/incapable/untrustworthy etc. It get's so boring.

An electrician can legally and responsibly check and provide Part P certification for work completed by someone else. In fact it was my local council building control who confirmed that this was both legal and acceptable, and it was further confirmed by all three of the electricians that I had quote for the job.

Regarding my query and the necessary knowledge some people have been so quick to (impertinently) suggest I lack, I was trying to be polite and engaging by explaining my issue as a story that would hopefully interest people rather than bore them to death. I had already assumed that my switch was faulty, or that the Power transformer was faulty, but thought I would give others the opportunity to advice as they saw fit without being led.

It's such a shame that we live in a world where users of a DIY forum can't simply ask a DIY question and get a friendly and sensible answer, whatever their background or skill level.

paulieg1988 said:

Could always turn the switch upside down and alter the other two if this is the case

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Thank you, that is a sensible suggestion. I think I'll just replace the switch though as there's obviously an issue with it.

Thanks again.

eyedee said:

Not sure what '!!!!!!?' means as I obviously taught myself the necessary skills in order for the qualified electrician to check my work thoroughly and provide me with the Part P certificate without any issues or concerns whatsoever.

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You should consider the possibility that the qualified electrician just took your money and gave you the paperwork without actually checking anything much beyond basic functionality. All of the comments made here by others e.g. lack of an enclosure for that power supply are correct.

I had already attempted that but it doesn't work. It doesn't turn on at all when the blue wire is placed in L2.

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I assume that you have a multimeter; try measuring conductivity through the switch to see if it is faulty.

Personally I'd not be happy to use a switch where one contact doesn't work in case there is some other issue with it, so I'd not follow the suggestion to turn it upside down, even though that could fix the problem in principle.

eyedee said:

If I am wrong I'd be very pleased to see evidence to the contrary.

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flameport said:

View attachment 102155

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Okay, thanks for the heads up. I'll sort that out then.

endecotp said:

You should consider the possibility that the qualified electrician just took your money and gave you the paperwork without actually checking anything much beyond basic functionality.

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I stood with the electrician whilst he checked everything thoroughly. I was working on the house in the same room for the whole day. He checked everything thoroughly and what he did was considered legal, safe and acceptable by Building Control, so I'm not worried in the least. But thank you for the concern.

endecotp said:

I assume that you have a multimeter; try measuring conductivity through the switch to see if it is faulty.

Personally I'd not be happy to use a switch where one contact doesn't work in case there is some other issue with it, so I'd not follow the suggestion to turn it upside down, even though that could fix the problem in principle.

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Thank you , yes I've just done that. With the switch one way (so 2 terminals bridged) there was perfect continuity, but with the switch the other way there was an intermittent break in the circuit. I opened the switch and one of the metal rockers (for want of the correct name) was fractured and didn't create a stable connection. Very luckily I had a spare matching 2-way 3 gang switch in my electrical cabinet (I fortunately bought more than needed when doing the kitchen and other rooms) which I've just installed and it's now working correctly.

Thanks to everyone who was a help for the advice.

eyedee said:

I stood with the electrician whilst he checked everything thoroughly. I was working on the house in the same room for the whole day. He checked everything thoroughly and what he did was considered legal, safe and acceptable by Building Control, so I'm not worried in the least. But thank you for the concern.

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What did he say about the lack of grommets?