2 way switch

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13 Apr 2006
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in the kitchen i have just replaced a 2 way with a new one now no lights downstairs are working the old swith had a bridging wire from com to L2 i have 4 red wires 1 black and 2 earths a red & black&earth come from one cable a red&earth come from another and i have 2 single reds if anyone can help i would be grateful
 
Sounds like your lives are looped via the switches and your neutrals via the light positions and although you have a black cable at your switch it is probably a live or switched live and not a neutral.

But you need to identify which conductor does which job. And when you say two-way do you actually mean two-gang? That is, is it a single switch that works in conjunction with another switch elsewhere or are there two switches in one plate?
 
So no lights for the last five days either then?

You have two separate switches then, but without more information it is hard to advise you.
How many lights do these two switches control?
Can you get at the connections at the lights themselves (this might help in identifying what goes where)?
Do you have any reliable voltage measuring equipment?

I would expect to see two conductors going into the Com terminal of one switch with a link to the Com terminal of the other switch. Then, I would expect to see a single conductor from each L1 terminal taking the switched live to each light. But in your case this still leaves one conductor unaccounted for. And if there is a neutral there you should not be resorting to trial and error.

An electrician should be able to sort this out in a matter of minutes. If you've been five days without light and you're not sure how to proceed surely it makes sense to call somebody in?
 

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