Help!! Stuck trying to replace lightswitch

[turk]

yesterday my 2 front room lights wouldnt turn off so i assumed the light switch (double push button dimmer) had blown, so this morning i take it apart and find that one of the switches had in fact blown, but luckily the other is fine....
but i dont have a clue where the wires will go. plus the fact there is a spare wire (yellow) that is taped up for some reason (it isnt the earth as thats already screwed into the casing)

can anyone help here as im completely stuck and google doesent show anything like what im looking at...

ive tryed to explain as best as i can but heres a pic that should help:

 

[RF Lighting]

how were they connected to the old switch?

 

[turk]

like this: (but with the unit flipped round

edit:

this might be better:

 

[Taylortwocities]

Well, you've answered your own question. There are two cables
One has a red and a black, these go to one switch. The other has red, blue and yellow, the red and blue go to the other switch, The yellow wire should be properly insulated in a piece of terminal block.

How are the terminals marked on the new dimmer? You didnt tell us this important piece of info!

By the way, the earth terminal on your dimmer should be connected to the earth wires that go to the back box!

 

[turk]

lol... i knew i hadnt explained well..

the switch unit above has 2 separate switches... one that blew and one ok, can i wire the ok one up so that the 2 lights are just on that one switch?

cheers for your help Taylortwocities


:edit:
the earth is screwed into the casing at the back..

 

[Taylortwocities]

It may be possible to use both circuits on one but you will need electrical knowledge and a multimeter or voltage test unit (NOT a neon screwdriver) to do the work. You would need to ensure that both circuits are on the same fuse and to sort out which cabl is the live feed and which is the load.

Also, what are the lamps connected to the dimmer. The individual dimmer is rated at 250watts and it will blow if you overload it.
You'd be better of buying a new double dimmer.

The earth tag is there for a purpose. It should have a separate earth wire connected to the others otherwise you are just relying on the fixing screw to provide the earth (so it wont be earthed if you undo it like you did when looking for the problem )

 

[turk]

It may be possible to use both circuits on one but you will need electrical knowledge and a multimeter or voltage test unit (NOT a neon screwdriver) to do the work. You would need to ensure that both circuits are on the same fuse and to sort out which cabl is the live feed and which is the load.

Also, what are the lamps connected to the dimmer. The individual dimmer is rated at 250watts and it will blow if you overload it.
You'd be better of buying a new double dimmer.

The earth tag is there for a purpose. It should have a separate earth wire connected to the others otherwise you are just relying on the fixing screw to provide the earth (so it wont be earthed if you undo it like you did when looking for the problem )

ok ive checked and both circuits are on the same fuse.
the lighting setup is: 2X 4 spot halogen bulbs, but theres only 2 bulbs (is that the term?) in each @ 50W each.

I will be buying a new switch at some point but i cant get one that matches (B&Q discontinued that line), so really i hoping just the one switch will be fine at the moment...

cheers again,
turk

 

[nozspark]

What does the front of the dimmer switch look like...

They look to be Grid dimmers (you should be able tro remove then from the metal fixing grid - clip @ top & bottom) and you should be able to get them from a wholesaler

 

[turk]

What does the front of the dimmer switch look like...

They look to be Grid dimmers (you should be able tro remove then from the metal fixing grid - clip @ top & bottom) and you should be able to get them from a wholesaler

hi nozspark,

the front looks like:

how do you mean wholesaler (im not a professional electrician so all i know is Wickes's and B&Q)

 

[nozspark]

Looking on line at GET PLC

http://www.getplc.com/pdf/connect.pdf

Look at page 47/99 of the pdf file or catalogue page 63 - GRLEDIM** is a very similar item, but does not have the finish for the buttons as you have.

As I said before you should be able to get this dimmer module from any wholesaler, look in your yellow pages for "electrical wholesaler" - your money is as good as mine!!!

 

[turk]

cheers nozspark, will have a trawl through that later

 

[nozspark]

That's ok Turk,

You might want to try and ring or e-mailing them, see if they can point you towards the correct (matching) dimmer module, you might even be able to buy it from them direct???

[email protected]
01707 601601

 

[turk]

ok well ive eventually got round to wiring this switch (both live in the 'live' and both neutral in the neutral)

can someone just confirm thats right before i put the fuse back in... (im out of fuse wire, so this is my only shot

cheers,
turk

 

[Taylortwocities]

You do not have any neutrals in your light switch!

 

[turk]

good point... all im seeing is black and brown wires and forgetting its not the same as a plug socket...


well thats why i came here as i dont know much about this stuff lol