3 way switch, 1 live feed, 3 separate lights

[marc4]

Had a look at my Dads switch for him after the usual " I changed it and put all the wires in the same holes as before".
its a 3 way switch each switch turning on/off a separate light. In the back of the switch are 3 cables ,

cable 1 has a red (live) black (light switches on/off)
cable 2 has a black and no red that I can see (light off permanent)
cable 3 has red and black both no feed (light off permanent)

I looped a red wire from com1/com2 to give cable 2 a live feed and cable 3 worked but now I cant get cable 3 to switch the light off.

I will try to get a photo to upload but has anyone any ideas please?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Does the third light/Switch (cable 3) have a another switch to operate the light?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Had a look at my Dads switch for him after the usual " I changed it and put all the wires in the same holes as before".

Different 3-gang switches can easily have their terminals arranged differently, and/or marked differently. Just putting conductors in what appears to be the same place can easily go wrong.

its a 3 way switch

3-gang, not 3-way. Life can get confusing if you use the wrong term, as 3-way means you can turn the light(s) on/off from 3 different places.

I looped a red wire from com1/com2 to give cable 2 a live feed and cable 3 worked but now I cant get cable 3 to switch the light off.

I will try to get a photo to upload but has anyone any ideas please?

Basically you really are going to have to know how lighting circuits and switches should be wired, find out how your Dad's is wired, and put it right.

//www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Lighting

Doing electrical work without a full and genuine understanding of how the things you are fiddling with actually work, following instructions to put-this-wire-in-that-terminal without truly understanding why, trying different combinations hoping to hit on the right one by luck, are bad ideas, not to be recommended.

There really is only Plan A or Plan B:

PLAN A:

• Learn how lighting circuits are wired.
• Get a multimeter and learn how to use it.
• Identify which conductors are which at the switches and the light positions.
• Check for voltage present, circuit continuity, switches working etc.
• Connect everything up properly.

PLAN B:

• Get an electrician.

 

[securespark]

I looped a red wire from com1/com2 to give cable 2 a live feed and cable 3 worked

This makes no sense.

If you have supplied a feed to the common feeding the single black, that should not fire up cable 3.

Unless there has been a major boob.

As I see it, it seems straight-forward. However, as PBOD says, the plan below will only work if cable 3 is attached to a second switch.

You will have to test it (use SAFE ISOLATION then put the black wire and any others not terminated in the switch at the time in a terminal block then reconnect the power and test with a multimeter between the single black and earth), but IF that black is not a live feed, I see the connections like this:

Cable 1. Red to common, black to L1 of one switch.

LINK THIS COMMON TO THE OTHER TWO COMMON TERMINALS.

Cable 2. Black to L1 of 2nd switch.

Cable 3. Red and black to L1 and L2 of 3rd switch.

 

[Risteard]

3-gang, not 3-way. Life can get confusing if you use the wrong term, as 3-way means you can turn the light(s) on/off from 3 different places.

That is two-way and intermediate switching. Three-way would mean that the switch could switch three separate ways, which is not possible with a simple rocker switch with no mid-position. Hence three-way is misleading and not the correct terminology.