Time lag switches- switching problem

[600rob]

got a set of time lag light switches set up in the communal area of a flat as follows:

Two of these switches at the bottom of the stair case

one of these at the top of the stairs

for a good few years all of the switches worked correctly, switching both stairwell lights (top and bottom) on for the programmed time until a couple of days ago when the lights are now permanently on.

When the lights are permanently on, the bulbs are are much dimmer than normal....
If i press either of the switches downstairs the lights go up to full brightness for the programmed time before going back to their dimmed but permanently on state.

If i operate the upstairs switch the lights brighten up momentarily, only while the switch is pressed and go back to dimmed when the switch is released, hence i thought the upstairs switch was faulty.

I tried replacing the upstairs switch with a slave since i thought i didn't actually need three masters.
After doing this lights are no longer permanently on, the two downstairs switches turn the lights on for the programmed time BUT the new slave switch only operates the light while the switch pressed and held down

Anyone got any ideas on whether I should have actually replaced the suspect switch with a master, or if there's anything else i might be missing?
Thanks

 

[333rocky333]

what sort of lamps are you using, if Led then that may be a problem

 

[Taylortwocities]

As Rocky says, you may not now have sufficient load. Read carefully the detailed spec on the links above. When detailing the minimum load it says:
40W per time lag switch in the circuit
If you have three switches, your minimum load needs to be 120watts.... You may have to fit the Danlers Caploads. RTFM

 

[600rob]

As Rocky says, you may not now have sufficient load. Read carefully the detailed spec on the links above. When detailing the minimum load it says:
40W per time lag switch in the circuit
If you have three switches, your minimum load needs to be 120watts.... You may have to fit the Danlers Caploads. RTFM

Good point...ill need to check this and update.

The property got rented out a while back and im pretty sure when i went round to inspect the other day, one of the bulbs was some sort of energy saver.... the other was a regular old style bulb.

cant remember what type of bulbs i used when i first fitted everything but will make sure to rule this out before going any further

 

[600rob]

Just an update on this... I fitted two 70w halogen bulbs which solved the issue of the lights being on all the time.
I decided to try the slave switch seeing as i had one but it still didn't work on timer... It only switches the lights on when you ptess.and hold the swith in the one position.
In the end i reverted to just usin three masters

 

[SUNRAY]

Just an update on this... I fitted two 70w halogen bulbs which solved the issue of the lights being on all the time.
I decided to try the slave switch seeing as i had one but it still didn't work on timer... It only switches the lights on when you ptess.and hold the swith in the one position.
In the end i reverted to just usin three masters

The slave is wired differently to a master, in that it controls the master and not the load. Hence the reason it lit only when pressed.

 

[600rob]

Can you provide any more details about the different wiring?
I have a live and switched live wire at the socket and the corresponding terminals on the slave switch.
I tried wiring live to live and sl to the sl terminals on the switch. Is there something else i need to do in order to make the slave control the masters?

Ps, both masters are wired live to live and sl to sl

 

[Taylortwocities]

Ps, both masters are wired live to live and sl to sl

Is that wired right? according to the instructions https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/Danlers/DNTLSW10.pdf
You have one master and all the others are slaves, wired from the master.

 

[SUNRAY]

Can you provide any more details about the different wiring?
I have a live and switched live wire at the socket and the corresponding terminals on the slave switch.
I tried wiring live to live and sl to the sl terminals on the switch. Is there something else i need to do in order to make the slave control the masters?

Ps, both masters are wired live to live and sl to sl

The slave units are only a momentary push button which wire to additional terminals on the master IIRC. The idea is there is only one timer and mains switching at one point and the slaves are used to control the master. This way there only needs to be 40W of load as opposed to 120W in your situation.

Edit: Sorry didn't see TTC's reply.