Bathroom light/extractor extra wires problem.

[dukeraoul]

Hi,

I'm replacing a broken 1 way bathroom ceiling pull cord switch that supplies the extractor fan as well. I stupidly didn't take a photo of the original switch! I have too many wires with strange colours and can't decode them. I'd be so grateful for some help.

The new switch has two live inputs and an earth. Instructions say I should have 2 live wires and an earth wire but I have more.

There are 2 red wires that were twisted together, 1 black, 1 blue, 1 yellow and one that's short and slightly green but is mostly bare copper.

Any help would be amazing, i'm a total novice i'm afraid.

Thanks!

 

[dukeraoul]

This is either a really dumb or obscure question. I checked the wiki and searched around. Any help would be gratefully received, we're still showering in the dark!

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[riveralt]

Hi,

I'm replacing a broken 1 way bathroom ceiling pull cord switch that supplies the extractor fan as well. I stupidly didn't take a photo of the original switch! I have too many wires with strange colours and can't decode them. I'd be so grateful for some help.

The new switch has two live inputs and an earth. Instructions say I should have 2 live wires and an earth wire but I have more.

There are 2 red wires that were twisted together, 1 black, 1 blue, 1 yellow and one that's short and slightly green but is mostly bare copper.

Any help would be amazing, i'm a total novice i'm afraid.

Thanks!

The best thing to do is to photograph the cables/conductors at the pull switch - your ceiling light and your extractor fan.
The red/yellow and blue conductors would normally go from the switch via a three pole isolator to the extractor fan (assuming it has a timer) with possibly red (permanent live) yellow (switch live) and blue (neutral)
Your red and black cable could be your power in (red) and switch live to the light (black).
One wiring configuration would be the two reds in common the black and the yellow in L1 and blue in a terminal block but with the conductors you have mentioned this would mean that you are missing a neutral conductor.

In all honesty the best bet would be to get an electrician to check out your circuit.

 

[dukeraoul]

Thanks for your replies! I'll get a photo.

 

[dukeraoul]

Here's a photo of the wires and switch. There is an earth input round the back and just the two inputs on the front with no labelling on them. The fan doesn't run on a timer, just goes off with the light.

I bought the same kind of switch that I took off but I have a feeling whoever put it up might have just blagged it with the wrong one?

Thanks.

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[dukeraoul]

Do you mean the wires coming from the fan at the other end? I'll see if I can get to it.

And yeah, the two red wires were wound together, and so were the blue and black wires.

Thanks.

 

[sparkwright]

Were the black and blue pair actually connected to the old switch, or were they in a connector block on their own?

How many terminals did the old switch?

Can you send a photograph of the old switch, to eliminate the possibility it may have been something different?

 

[riveralt]

Do you know what type of extractor fan you have?
Does it switch on and off with the light switch?
Does it stay on after the light has been switched off?

Do you have a three pole isolator between the switch and the extractor fan?
Photographs needed of the inside of the extractor fan showing how the wiring from the switch is connected and also a photograph of the ceiling rose or light connections.

There are number of scenarios that could fit the wiring you have photographed.
The black and blue - could be the neutral connection
the two reds could be the switch live goes into L1 switching on and off both the light and the fan at the same time
the yellow could be live from the light goes into C
or other concoctions.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I have a feeling whoever put it up might have just blagged it with the wrong one

And I have a feeling that whoever was responsible for that disgusting bodged wiring was an idiot.

Let's hope he hasn't f*****d up elsewhere in your house and left any death-traps for you.

 

[dukeraoul]

Thanks for your replies/concern.

The light and extractor came on and went off at the with each click with no timer on the extractor. I think riveralt is right about the wiring scenario, that's how I remember it being wired but I can't think where the blue and black wires were. I didn't take any connector blocks off them.

Right here are the photos. Sorry if they're huge and a bit out of focus, I was quite contorted trying to get them. Really confused now!

Old switch

Ceiling rose connection

Back of extractor (as far as I could see anyway)

Front of extractor

 

[riveralt]

You will need to provide answers to these questions before we can continue. I suspect that you will need to acquire a multimeter because at some stage you may need to determine which cable is which.

Starting with the fuzzy inside of the fan photograph - you have three conductors yellow - possibly SL (switch live) red - possibly permanent live and blue - possibly neutral. You may be able to see the actually markers on the extractor to confirm. I will assume that there is an unused earth wire cut off near to the fan.

Can you see if these conductors go directly to the pull switch or do they go to the ceiling rose and then to the pull switch?

At the ceiling rose it looks as if there are two sets of three core (red, yellow and blue) cables only - can you confirm this?

At the new pull switch (ignoring the earth) you appear to have two cables. One three core (red, yellow and blue) and one two core (red, black) - can you confirm where the two core (red, black) cable comes from?

If the route back from the extractor goes via the ceiling rose and then to the switch - this is one possible wiring scenario.

At the pull switch>>> the two core (red,black) cable brings the live (red) and neutral (black) to the switch from (somewhere???). The three core cable(red, yellow, blue) goes to the ceiling rose. At the pull switch the two reds (live in and permanent live out) are placed in the common terminal and the yellow (switch live) is placed in L1 terminal. Earths are connected together in a terminal block. Black and blue conductors(neutrals) are also connected in a terminal block.

At the ceiling rose>>> The red cables (permanent live) are connected together in a terminal block. The yellow cables (switch live from the switch and switch live to the extractor fan) are connected to the live terminal in the ceiling rose which is then connected the live terminal for the lamp. The blue cables (neutral from the switch and from the extractor fan) are connected to the ceiling rose neutral terminal and pick the return neutral from the lamp). The earths should also be connected to a terminal or terminal block.

There are other possible wiring scenarios.