Help indentifying wires on a outdated Vaillant thermostat

[Echosounder]

Help needed. I have an old vaillant VRT manual thermostat (possibly an outdated VRT 30) with three terminals labelled L with an arrow symbol pointing in (yellow wire connected), which I premume means live. L with an arrow symbol pointing out (red wire connected) which I presume means switch live and N with an arrow symbol pointing in (blue wire connected) which I presume means neutral.

When the timer is off, all cables are live

When the timer is on and active, only the blue cable is live (N)

When the timer is on and active, but the thermostat is turned down, both the blue (N) and red (L symbol with an arrow pointing out) cables are live.

Is this what should be expected if my above assumptions are correct? I'm confused as the blue (N) cable appears to be always live and yet the yellow ( L symbol with an arrow pointing in ) is only live when the timer is off.

 

[matt1e]

what are you using to test with
one of these?

If so then bin it as they're hopeless and buy yourself a cheap multimeter
what problems are you having?

 

[Echosounder]

Yes, I appreciate that it's not the right tool for the job Mat. I want to replace the thermostat as it's outdated, but I'm not familiar with the symols L <- and L -> and not convinced that the wiring colours are any indication of their use (yellow for L <- and red for L ->). The blue appears to be neutral and is connected to the terminal marked N <-. Can I safely assume that L -> is the switch live?

 

[matt1e]

Can I safely assume that L -> is the switch live?

yes mate