dimmer in living room confusion

[terryuk22]

first of all the markings fell off the wires that i labelled and im no diy expert

we have a dimmer switch that controls 2 ceiling lights (2 rotarys on dimmer)

what goes into the switch are 4 red wires but only one of these is live
ive noticed that 1 red wire feeds the kitchen as well

there was a bridge wire going from one terminal on 1st part of dimmer to the other block of dimmer

i tryed to connect but went bang then melted

i know nothing about L1 L2 and C

 

[Spark123]

If it went bang, where have you connected the earths?
Are you using a minimum of a 1" back box?

 

[terryuk22]

sorry 3 red wires going in only 1 of which is live

earths are not connected yet were not connected anyway only to screw on a plastic surround

 

[securespark]

If you only have three red wires & one is live, and one feeds the kitchen and you have a two gang switch, then you have a problem!!

If one is live in, then you have a live out to the kitchen (this wire goes in the common, along with the live feed in to the switch), then in order to switch two fittings independently from that position you would require two further conductors.

If you feel competent, you could try:

DISCONNECTING THE POWER.

Joining the one you know to be live to each other red in turn, then reconnecting the power to see what becomes live.

 

[terryuk22]

dont forget there is a little wire that bridges 2 connections as well

 

[Spark123]

Yeah, but to do as you said originally requires 4 wires i.e.
Supply in (permanent live)
Switch live to lamp 1
Switch live to lamp 2
Supply out to kitchen light

Supply in links to supply out with wire link.

 

[securespark]

Yes, that just loops the live feed across from one "C" to the other so that both gangs are fed.

 

[terryuk22]

so i take it the live is fed to the C
bridge from c to c

 

[terryuk22]

thanks all sorted it now