I have a problem in a new house - There is one central low voltage downlighter and two 5 amp wall sockets for lamps in one circuit on a dimmer. With lamps plugged in, and the dimmer on full, the downlighter is bright and the lamps are dim. With the dimmer on low, the downlighter is dim, but the lamps are bright. Where has the electrician gone wrong?
5 amp wall sockets work the wrong way around from pendant
- Thread starter Bubb
- Start date
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You have the lights and the dimmer in series. Start again.
err - lights to be dimmed are supposed to be in series with the dimmer...
what power are the different lights?
im suspecting that the sockets for wall lights are connected in paralell with the dimmer (and then the celiing lights are in series with the whole lot)
how many cables are there in the box with the dimmer?
im suspecting that the sockets for wall lights are connected in paralell with the dimmer (and then the celiing lights are in series with the whole lot)
how many cables are there in the box with the dimmer?
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B
breezer
just a thought, and i have to admit i have never tried it. ( so i could be totaly wrong)
dont suppose the dimmer is a 2 way?
L1 downlight
L2 5A sockets
dont suppose the dimmer is a 2 way?
L1 downlight
L2 5A sockets
ban-all-sheds said:
Yes, you're right. I was overly glib, sorry.
I was thinking along the same lines as Plugwash
I have now had a look behind the dimmer base plate. It is oneway, but there are two three core cables coming in. One appears to come in from the ceiling light, the red being the live. The black is tagged red, and is connected to the other terminal of the switch. This appears as I would expect for a straight forward switch. However, what I don't understand is that that the other wire (note, all black wires are tagged red), which seems to come in from the wall sockets appears to have the red connected to both the live terminals at the sockets, and the black to both the Neutral. The red is wired to the live terminal of the switch (?) and the black to the other (with the central light return). This seems wierd, and I dont see where the wall sockets are connected to neutral. Either I have misread the connections, or the electrician was having a really bad day?[/quote]
my guess is it was done by a builder and the electrician didn't notice this stupid mistake when testing (possiblly because the lams were not in place at the time)
you said this was a new house: if so you chould have a claim under the NBHC gaurantee
easiest way to fix this one (if you do end up doing it yourself) is to replace the drop from the ceiling light to the switch with 3 and earth so that it can provide a neutral for the wall lights
you said this was a new house: if so you chould have a claim under the NBHC gaurantee
easiest way to fix this one (if you do end up doing it yourself) is to replace the drop from the ceiling light to the switch with 3 and earth so that it can provide a neutral for the wall lights
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