Replacing 2 gang switch with a 2 gang 2 way dimmer

[skituk]

Hi

I'm trying to replace a 2 gang switch with a 2 gang 2 way dimmer but am confused about the wires that I see.

There are 2 grey cables, the first has 1 live, 1 neutral and 1 earth. The second has 1 live and 1 earth.

Could someone explain where these cables should be going?
Homebase's instructions are possibly the worst i have seen and only makes things more confusing.

Cheers
Mark

 

[securespark]

This switch, is there only one switch controlling the lights?

You need to discover which of those conductors (probably a red) is live all the time.

This will be your live feed to both common sides of the dimmer. Of the remaining conductors, one will go to one L1 terminal and the other to the other. Which way round they are connected will depend upon how you want them arranged, ie: light on the l/h/s and light b on r/h/s or vice versa.

Don't forget that the black in this case is in fact a switched live, NOT a neutral, so mark it with red tape. And the bare earth conductors should be sleeved with green/yellow sleeving and attached to the terminal in the box. If your switch has a metal front plate, then you should attach a short length of sleeved 1.00 earth wire (or flex) to the earth terminal and connect the other end to the earth terminal on the switch plate.

 

[skituk]

Both the current switches work (controlling 2 sets of lights).

There is also a red wire conecting the 2 l1. I'm guessing that the 1 permenent live is used for both switches?

Thanks for the help I'll give it a try