Light switch to power deck lighting

[Neil Henry]

Hi,

Quick question. I moved into a house that has deck lights which are powered by 240v plugs which are plugged into a 4 way gang socket. (4 of them in a junction box) which runs to a cable which goes into the roof running up the wall. They used to be powered by one of the switches in the kitchen, but when the previous owner had work done, the electrician disconnected them and she has no idea why. Looking at the wires, they have been disconnected and taped up, but I cannot see how the standard light socket switch could power these as quite clearly there is not enough power going through the lighting circuit.

Could I take power from a 240v source in the loft, and use it to the light switch, and then what would I need to ensure that when the switch is on and hooked to the 240v source, I could make sure in the loft where the deck lights power cable is, that I can control them with the switch without the impossible task of trying to run the deck lights cable to the light switch.

Is there a method or junction box that I can hook the 240v new power source, the light switch to control it and the decking lights cable also.

Thanks guys.

 

[john4703]

What rating at the transformers? Are they transformers or LED drivers? What rating are the lights? A lot more information and photos might help.

 

[Neil Henry]

Hope this helps.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Try again, slowly. Bear in mind the previous owner may be telling porkies- good odds something in that outside lighting setup has failed on an inspection (could be an technical problem or could just be a non-compliant cable- run inside the wall cavity would do it) so has been disconnected as the cheapest fix before selling the place on.

 

[Neil Henry]

Well considering I know the person, I believe her. She said decking was working before they put new soffits in, then she found out later on that they had disconnected them.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Ahh. Given the transformers are in the roof whoever did the soffits has probably put a nail through the cable or crushed it with a board. Time for some detective work.

 

[Neil Henry]

No. I thought those were transformers in the picture. I will edit the original. The power cable runs up into the loft and has been cut, so I cannot see where it originally went to, to get 240v as their is no way it would be drawing power from the twin light switch as it doesn't have enough power.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Only just seen the pics. The back of one of the plugs says 5w, so with 4 plugs that's 20watts, which the lighting circuit (usually fused at 6 amps so around 1500 watts) can easily handle

 

[Neil Henry]

I tried it, and when I switched it on, the lights kept pulsing on and off.

Any ideas to what I was doing wrong ?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Probably nothing. The LEDS may be old and full of water. Or maybe they're designed to go disco, some people like that sort of thing. Try a Martindale in the socket, if that checks out ok then find the instructions for the LEDs or buy some new ones

 

[Neil Henry]

LEDs are fine. Wired the cable to a plug and plugged it in. They work fine.

So I am not sure why when I wire them to the switch they are causing the kitchen lights to flash and the deck lights to flash like a strobe effect.

Anyone any ideas ?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

This is the switch that was disconnected because it was feeding a cable that had been cut- the cable has now magically repaired itself, the switch has rewired itself and you reveal all this over the course of several posts after your initial incoherent word cloud?

Your LEDs and kitchen lights are going disco because whoever reconnected the switch has put the outside LEDs in series with the kitchen lights.

So that person needs to restore the wiring such that the kitchen lights work properly. They then need to find a neutral in that switch (where your flex going to the roof starts from). If there isn't a neutral there you need to link to the neutral of the kitchen light or any other light fed by that circuit.

 

[flameport]

So I am not sure why when I wire them to the switch

To get any kind of sensible help here:

please describe exactly what you have actually got in the way of switches, wiring, lights, transformers
what you have been wiring together
what you have already done
what is working / not working
pictures of the switch and wiring

Please remember that no one on this forum has seen the installation before, and any help offered can only be based on the information you provide.