Existing 2-Way Wiring (Confused)

[oakc]

Hi,

this will be something obvious for a sparky i'm sure... i can follow simple light switch wiring and understand the basics but if it vears from that, i question myself and am second guessing.... this has been a minor annoyance since we orginally moved into the house that i've not got round to looking at until now... i hope someone can help... have one dimmer in the living room controlling kitchen lights and a 2 gang switch in the kitchen, one of those switches can also control kitchen lights (other is for conservatory).. and both work fine independently when lights are off however the one in the kitchen will do nothing if the light is switched on by the dimmer switch in the living room but if i switch the lights off by the dimmer switch, the light switch in the kitchen will work again...

i'm sure this is just a simple wiring issue but can't get my head around it

View media item 87436Left dimmer controls kitchen - yes i said left, logic seems it would of been right? right? lol (that is the door into the kitchen at the right of the pic)... lol... anyway....

View media item 874372 Gang Switch (Right is for kitchen)

View media item 874382 Gang Wiring...
Kitchen (Left gang on pic)
Red = Com
Blue = L1
Yellow = L2 (Joined/Looped with Com on Conservatory Switch? don't know why, for power i assume?)

Conservatory
Yellow = Com (Joined/Looped to L2 on Kitchen Switch)
Red = L1

Should the yellow cable be looped like that to L2 from Com?


View media item 87439To show where the cables come from (Single Red + 3 Core i believe?)

View media item 87440Dimmer Switch Wiring....
View media item 87441
Should yellow be in L2? i did try swapping it from com to l2 but it still acts the same, it made no difference...


any help would be really appreciated

 

[ericmark]

I will start with last picture normally only one wire in C and two wires in 1 and 2 so likely the red wire in C should be in 2.

However this would also mean the other switch would need changing. The red, yellow and blue should be in the same holes with each switch so com will be yellow. So the red and yellow of the three core and earth cable wants swapping so red is next to blue and yellow is in com. But the yellow like wire will stay where it is.

Clearly a little guess work I can’t test anything but think there is a very good chance this will work.

 

[oakc]

I will start with last picture normally only one wire in C and two wires in 1 and 2 so likely the red wire in C should be in 2.

However this would also mean the other switch would need changing. The red, yellow and blue should be in the same holes with each switch so com will be yellow. So the red and yellow of the three core and earth cable wants swapping so red is next to blue and yellow is in com. But the yellow like wire will stay where it is.

Clearly a little guess work I can’t test anything but think there is a very good chance this will work.

excellent will try that when i get back so why is Com on one gang linked to L2 on the other gang? isn't it normally com to com and is this to save having another live feed to the switch?

sorry for the bombardment of questions

 

[EFLImpudence]

so why is Com on one gang linked to L2 on the other gang? isn't it normally com to com and is this to save having another live feed to the switch?

It will make more sense to you if you move the yellow wire (from the cable) to the other end of the yellow link.

See here (although blue and yellow are the other way round).

 

[oakc]

you know... that really does make more sense! and think light bulb finally on (no pun intended) i learnt this sort of thing 12 months ago dealing with hallway and landing light - you'd think i'd of retained it ... so simple/logical when you step back and think about it or get shown by you guys!

main reason i want to get this sorted/checked is i want to replace these with livewaverf dimmers but they use there own "terminology" X S L rather than Com L1 L2 and need to make sure got one side is master, one slave, apparently they don't suit all types of wiring.

http://www.lightwaverf.com/assets/public/pdf/product-manuals/JSJSLW420.pdf

....i mean a signal cable means nothing to me.... lol

i don't like to give up on a challenge but don't want to do damage either.

 

[oakc]

i actually think from what you guys have said, i maybe understand how to wire the lightwaverf for 2way switching.

so it'd be Live from lighting circuit in L (red), switched live (black, red tape in my case) into X

Yellow into S and blue into X (switch live) would i then need to tape this to show not neutral?

Edit: oh and other red cable that running to other switch goes into Live also?

then in 2 gang switch

Red into L, Yellow into S, and blue into X?

then yellow "loop" cable going from L to L and Single Red Cable into X?

or would it be yellow loop cable going from X to X and single red cable into Live?

 

[sparkwright]

[/QUOTE]

Oakc, you would be best to get the old switches working correctly first, before you contemplate how to connect the new fancy switch.

 

[sparkwright]

so why is Com on one gang linked to L2 on the other gang? isn't it normally com to com and is this to save having another live feed to the switch?

It will make more sense to you if you move the yellow wire (from the cable) to the other end of the yellow link.

See here (although blue and yellow are the other way round).

Oakc, the top picture shows what should have at the one gang dimmer, but, don't forget, the wires in the 3 core and earth cable (that's red, yellow, blue) can be connected any way round, PROVIDING you use the same colours at the other switch.

If you study the picture, you will see L2 is permanent live. We know it (should) be perm live because it is fed by the red (from the 2 core and earth cable with the red and black.

So, this permanent live wire then goes to the L2 of the other switch - so that L2 is permanent live too.

At this switch, (which would be your 2 gang double switch), a short link wire can therefore go to feed the other switch module (conservatory) on that same faceplate. For arguments sake, put the end of the link into common on the conservatory switch. Put that remaining wire in the other end of the conservatory switch, say L1.

See what I mean? If not, ask.

Probably the most confusing bit for you is deciding what colours of the 3 core and earth cable (R, Y, B) to use. Because you've got your existing wiring, and we're looking at a drawing where different colours have been used.

The main thing is where ONLY the 3 core and earth cable is concerned, if you use the same colour for each com, L1, L2 - you'll be ok.

If you're not sure ASK.

 

[oakc]

that worked!!!! now they both work regardless of if the light is on or off! YAY! also rewired it to match the diagram you posted! (blue yellow switched around) and now i understand how it works

fantastic, thank you so much for your help!!!

 

[EFLImpudence]

Good.

Thanks for letting us know and for taking the time to understand.