Extra wire

[securespark]

And you have N & E connected?

Then you may need a multimeter to work out which of the line conductors is live when the switch is closed.

 

[RedQueenie]

Yep everything else is connected as on the instructions

 

[RedQueenie]

Hiya I've got a multimeter how do I check the live line conductor?

 

[Taylortwocities]

Set multimeter to voltage range that is greater than 250V~AC

One probe on the neutral (blue/grey).

The other probe on the brown. That should show around 230V whatever position the switch is in - that will be your permanent live.

Do the same for the black with the brown sleeve. That should go opff and on with the switch.

That will be your over-ride switch and goes to the SL (switched live) terminal.

 

[JohnW2]

Set multimeter to voltage range that is greater than 250V~AC ... One probe on the neutral (blue/grey). ... The other probe on the brown. That should show around 230V whatever position the switch is in - that will be your permanent live. ... Do the same for the black with the brown sleeve. That should go opff and on with the switch. ... That will be your over-ride switch and goes to the SL (switched live) terminal.

True though all that is, as I understand it there is now a new problem. The OP seems to have done something to the connections at the switch [presumably affecting the 'link' wire(s)] such that the live feed to the switches for the indoor and porch lights (which should be 'permanent live') is now coming through the PIR light switch. That wiring presumably needs to be restored to its original state before the OP proceeds any further.

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

I was thinking if the OP ascertained first what readings were at the fitting, that would give us an idea of what was going on (or what needed to be altered) at the switch.

 

[JohnW2]

I was thinking if the OP ascertained first what readings were at the fitting, that would give us an idea of what was going on (or what needed to be altered) at the switch.

I would think differently from that. Identifying which conductor is which at the fitting is not going to help very much in sorting out what has been changed at the switch (such that it appears that two of the switches are now being fed via the third one). As I said, I think the OP needs to get the switch wiring back to what it was before he concerns himself with what is happening at the fitting.

In any event, I don't think that, in reality, he really needs to do any 'identifying' at the fitting. To get the functionality he wants, he is just going to connect one conductor (the one switched by the third switch) to the L terminal of the fitting and 'ignore' the other conductor. Much as one wouldn't normally condone 'trial and error', if one of the conductors is permanent L and the other is S/L (switched by the third switch) then using one of the conductors would result in the desired functionality, and using the other would mean that the switch would have no effect of the fitting.

Kind Regards, John

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Right now I tried the other way around. Disconnecting the black/brown and putting the brown into L and into Way1 at the bottom of the switch (where the black/brown used to be) now what happens is when I try to turn the indoor lights and porch light on nothing, but if I turn the security light on the switches to the other 2 lights work. Whats going on??

The brown cable that was originally at com on the gang for security light must be a perm live feed then. So that needs to stay in the com of that gang to feed a supply across all gangs.

Then put the black/sleeved brown back in to L1 of this gang, put a connection block on the brown at the light and terminate the black/sleeved brown to L of the light. Then put the switch in the closed/on position.

 

[JohnW2]

I think this thread illustrates very well how difficult it can be to do this sort of thing by 'remote control'. I'm sure that any of us who have contributed to this thread could have ascertained the OP's wishes and sorted everything out in just a small number of minutes if we had been 'on site'.

In fact, if the switch had been left alone, (and assuming that we are right about 'which conductor is which' at the fitting) all that would have been needed would be what PBoD has just written ("...put a connection block on the brown at the light and terminate the black/sleeved brown to L of the light.")

Kind Regards, John

 

[RedQueenie]

Right I've put the brown back in the com and the black in the L1. I've got a connection block and will put the brown coming out of the light into one end. Does anything else need to go into the other end? I'll also put the black into the L on the light.

 

[JohnW2]

Right I've put the brown back in the com and the black in the L1. I've got a connection block and will put the brown coming out of the light into one end. Does anything else need to go into the other end?

No - you're putting it into the block just to 'keep it out of harm's way"; it does not need to be connected to anything.

I'll also put the black into the L on the light.

That's right. If you find that the switch does not 'kill' the new light (i.e. it is always 'on'), you will need to swap the brown and black (with brown sleeve) at the light.

Kind Regards, John

 

[RedQueenie]

WHOOOOO!!! It works. Thanking you everso for all your help, you've been FANTASTIC. No more grumpy neighbours x

 

[JohnW2]

WHOOOOO!!! It works. Thanking you everso for all your help, you've been FANTASTIC. No more grumpy neighbours x

I'm pleased to hear that! Had we all fully understood (I certainly didn't) what functionality you wanted at the very start, I think we could probably have got you sorted out very quickly!

Kind Regards, John