Light Switch Help

[James Edge]

Does that then change the location of the far red wire (feed to next light) from comm 3 to come 4? If comm 3 to comm 4 does indeed need a loop

 

[Doggit]

Well, if you're linking the common of 3 to 4, then you can put the far right red into the no 4's common.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I stupidly forgot to picture the socket before removing it.

Indeed.

So now you have to choose between Plan A and Plan B.

PLAN A:

• Learn how lighting circuits are wired.
  • http://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Lighting
  • http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/House_Wiring_for_Beginners#Lighting
    
  • http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=uk+lighting+wiring+(basics+OR+101)
  • http://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:books
  • http://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:index
• Get a multimeter and learn how to use it.
• Identify which conductors are which at the switches and the light positions.
• Work out what should go where given the new switching arrangements you want.
  
• Connect everything up properly.

PLAN B:

• Get an electrician.

There are some irresponsible people here who will tell you that there is a Plan C, which is to start trying different things without really knowing what's going on, hoping to get it working by luck, or by blindly following instructions to put-this-wire-in-that-hole without any idea as to why. Please don't listen to them - you must know what, and truly understand what, you are doing.

Electrical-installation-by-guesswork is a foolish idea.

There is no Plan C for anybody sensible.

 

[securespark]

Looking at the cables, it seems to me there could be 4 separate switch wires, 3 x 1 way and 1 x 2 way.

The two way could have a feed looped off the commons plus the relevant switch wire in L1 & L2 along with the strappers and the third core of the 3C&E to common?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Electrical-installation-by-guesswork is a foolish idea.

 

[securespark]

I may be horribly deaf and have some sight impairment, but I got it the first time.

 

[securespark]

There are some things that folk persist in posting, despite other posters' desire that they desist.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Indeed they do - things like suggestions based on guesswork, and like facilitating people doing electrical work when it is blindingly obvious that they do not truly understand what they are doing.

 

[Doggit]

You really need to lighten up ban-all-sheds. On the basis that the OP is asking for help, we're just trying to do that, and yes, at times it will be guesswork because not all posters put the situation perfectly, so like a child learning to walk, it's a little to the left, then a little wobble to the right till you get there.

And what we're actually trying to do is help him not put the wrong wire in the wrong place, and there are times it's been obvious that the poster is a danger to himself, and we've all backed off, but it usually works out, and no ones come back and said they brunt the house down, so why are you so sanctimonious over things. What gives you the right to set yourself up as judge and jury over things.

 

[EFLImpudence]

As Secure implies, there is an easy way of doing it - IF - it is as we think - BUT - it is not consistent with what we have been told.

Actually - we haven't even had it confirmed that there are four independent lights.


No disrespect to James, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility - I have encountered such before - that one switch is not used.

So - do we post umpteen variations for what it could be - or - advise James to learn and figure it out or get an electrician.

 

[JohnW2]

So - do we post umpteen variations for what it could be - or - advise James to learn and figure it out or get an electrician.

That's often the difficult question.

Despite what is often suggested, to expect someone to "learn how to figure it out for themselves" is very often not going to be a realistic option for someone faced with a one-off problem, who quite probably will not subsequently be faced with a similar problem for many years/decades to come, if ever.

That means that, if only those two options are being considered, "get an electrician" would necessarily often be the response - and if we get/got to a situation in which that was commonplace, then the reason for, and viability of, the forum would presumably come into question - if things moved too far in that direction, the forum could be replaced with a simple notice saying "If you don't know enough to be able to do it without asking questions, and aren't prepared to (or can't afford the time to) learn how to do it, you need to get an electrician".

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So - do we post umpteen variations for what it could be - or - advise James to learn and figure it out or get an electrician.

That.

 

[EFLImpudence]

That's often the difficult question.

It's not really.

Do you think I should post a diagram which might not be correct?




In another thread, we have a poster wondering why the light doesn't work when the switch only has two wires in the same terminal.

 

[securespark]

I stand by my new signature.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Despite what is often suggested, to expect someone to "learn how to figure it out for themselves" is very often not going to be a realistic option for someone faced with a one-off problem, who quite probably will not subsequently be faced with a similar problem for many years/decades to come, if ever.

Then they get an electrician.

It really is that simple.

The risks of uninformed fiddling are not lessened if the fiddling is infrequent, or a one-off.

The principle of do it properly, and with genuine understanding, or not at all applies whether you do it once in a lifetime or once a day.

It may well be unrealistic for someone to learn for an isolated occurrence, but the alternative in that case is not carry on regardless, any more than it would be if a journey was to be undertaken by a non-driver which could only be done in a car, and it was unrealistic for them to learn just for that occurrence.

That means that, if only those two options are being considered, "get an electrician" would necessarily often be the response - and if we get/got to a situation in which that was commonplace, then the reason for, and viability of, the forum would presumably come into question - if things moved too far in that direction, the forum could be replaced with a simple notice saying "If you don't know enough to be able to do it without asking questions, and aren't prepared to (or can't afford the time to) learn how to do it, you need to get an electrician".

The problem with that theory is that there is no evidence to support its credibility.

I found it appropriate to give that PlanA/PlanB advice 7 times in 2017.

That hardly counts as "necessarily often be the response", now does it.