Newbie trying to swap double switch for double dimmer - HELP!!

[SUNRAY]

So....sit rep.

Close, but no cigar. By which I mean when I first wired it in, the landing light flickered (I assume probably because it has an non dimmable LED bulb in it). Weirdly it seemed to flicker less when I turned the dimmer down slightly, but now I can't get it to do anything - so there was power going to it. Annoyingly I don't have any standard halogen bulbs in the house, so can't do much more testing tonight.

But no joy on the spots - but I can hear them buzzing when I flick the fuse on...just no light. They say they're dimmable. So again, seems there's power getting to them, but alas no light.

To follow photos of my wiring (so you can check my homework) and the spots - I've got a feeling the wiring might be right, but maybe the spec of the dimmer and / or spots are incompatible for some reason?

I've now numbered the cables as per all of the above chat.

1 = Spots

2 = Down (understairs)

3 = Landing

4 = Feed

Wired in as per your diagram which I read as -

Cable 1 - Red and blue wires to dimmer terminals as pictured, yellow wire connected via a block to brown wire on cable 2.
Cable 2 - Brown wire connected via block to yellow from cable 1, blue to terminal block (with black from cable 4 and blue from cable 3).
Cable 3 - Brown wire to dimmer terminal as shown, blue to terminal block (with black from 4 and blue from 2).
Cable 4 - Red to C (marked as L), black to terminal block (with blue from 2 and blue from 3).

I've run a wire from the connector holding the 4 earths to the earth terminal on the face plate (currently the wire is black as that's the only colour I had but I'll replace with yellow and green when I can get some tomorrow).

So....my wiring -

View attachment 209152

And a few detail shots of the spots I'm trying to run....

View attachment 209154

View attachment 209156

View attachment 209157

Any ideas? Any common mistakes that amateurs like me tend to make? Have I bought the wrong dimmer? Any wires I should double check based on the above?

Thanks again....I feel like I'm close....just something isn't quite right.

What I see there looks like the wiring should work. As to whether the dimmer is suitable I don't know. the part number on the spots does'nt come up on searches but the company does so a phone call may work. There is also bound to be a minimum power for the dimmer, are you above this?

 

[jfb1977]

There is also bound to be a minimum power for the dimmer, are you above this?

Errrrrmmmmm....I have no idea, sorry!

Standard UK voltage is 230v right?

Back of the dimmer says 200-230V AC, so should be fine?!

Damn I wish I knew more about this stuff!

 

[endecotp]

Back of the dimmer says 200-230V AC, so should be fine?!

View attachment 209162

“Min load 60W”

 

[SUNRAY]

Stupidly I tried to read the minimum from the wiring sheet I posted, I'd forgotten JFB had posted a pic of the dimmer.

 

[jfb1977]

Excuse my ignorance but what does the fact the minimum load is 60W mean?

Wrong dimmer? What should I be buying?

 

[endecotp]

That “min 60W” dimmer requires a minimum of 60W of lamps connected to work correctly.
That would not have been much of an issue with incandescent lamps but it’s not going to work with any reasonable quantity of modern LED lamps.
There are other compatibility issues between LEDs and dimmers. I’m not an expert. It is probably best to check the documentation for your “dimmable” LEDs and see what they say about compatible dimmers.

 

[jfb1977]

So I went to Screwfix and had a chat with their electrical 'expert' apparently - showed them the dimmers etc...he reckons the one I've bought will do the trick as it has a minimum of 5W.

My issue now is that it's got different connection labels to the one I already fitted, that @SUNRAY very kindly helped me with a diagram for.

What needs to go where from what I've got to this one..? @SUNRAY - feel like if you've got the time to help AGAIN (!) then I should make a donation to a charity of your choice for all your help!

 

[endecotp]

the one I've bought will do the trick as it has a minimum of 5W.

It says “60 - 400 VA”.

(VA = W, more or less.)

Do you have something saying “5W”?

If you want to try it, join the two ~ terminals together for the other dimmer’d middle terminal.

 

[jfb1977]

It says “60 - 400 VA”.

(VA = W, more or less.)

Do you have something saying “5W”?

If you want to try it, join the two ~ terminals together for the other dimmer’d middle terminal.

Don't tell me I've cocked up again!

It was listed on the Screwfix website as 5W min dimmable LED load. But then I really don't know what I'm talking about, so may have made an error!

As per spec sheet here -

 

[jfb1977]

Seems this dimmer is adjustable and at least this one came with instructions (to follow) - but now I'm even more confused! Page 5 of the instructions states that the min load is 60W but then on other pages it says 5W for LEDs.

I'm so confused right now - plus have zero idea how to even wire this one in compared to the one that's currently wired in.

 

[endecotp]

have zero idea how to even wire this one in compared to the one that's currently wired in.

As I said, connect the new dimmer’s two ~ terminals together to replace the old one’s middle terminal. The others are the same.

Don’t worry about the adjustable thing until everything else works.

I don’t understand why the minimum load is different for LEDs vs. incandescent bulbs, but it does look as if it should work in that respect.

Have you looked at the documentation for the LED lamps or transformers to see what they say about compatible dimmers? The note on page 6 of your instructions about not being compatible with trailing edge transformers may be relevant.

 

[terryplumb]

With regard to the very first pic that you posted ,did you label each of the conductors going into those switches ? In other words, do you know ,now ,which each one is ? If you do it's a simple swap to the new 2 gang dimmer.
The wavy line terminal on new is the equivalent to the com terminal on the original switch. Cant make out on the original pic what the lower terminals are marked ,are they L1 and L2 ?

 

[SUNRAY]

This should do, the little link wire is back:

 

[securespark]

Your dimmer modules have a minimum load of 60W.

If all your recessed fittings are 13W each, that should satisfy the dimmer.

But the other switch only controls two lamps?

Also, are the lamps and the dimmer compatible with each other?

 

[securespark]

Sorry, late to the party again......

Seem to recall from memory, some LAP dimmers have a minimum load (using LED lamps) of 5W and maximum load (using LED lamps) of 50W, which would mean one of your groups of fittings is over-loading the dimmer.

Are we sure that ALL the fittings are dimmable?