Two ceiling lights controlled by Two way Switch

[s_rashid]

Hello All,

I had one ceiling light previously controlled by two way switches on either end of the lounge. We recently had to get some renovation work done which involved putting up a new ceiling. The electrician who came round installed the wiring to control two ceiling flush lights(new wiring for these lights - wires hanging down from the ceiling lights not installed yet). One wire from one hole in the ceiling(2 core + earth) and two wires (twin core + earth) from the other hole. One of the wires int he second hole is just the other end of the wire hanging out from the first hole. The old wiring was a WHITE sleeve wiring. One of the old two way switch is still hanging out of the wall with three wires; our of which two(Red+black) are connected and a green wire is just hanging out. On the other end where the second two way switcch used to be there is a 3core + earth cable in place.


I am not clear why he didn't put 3core + earth on both sides. The contractor doing the renovation work walked away with the money and didn't pay the electrician and i cant afford to pay him again. SO need to get this done in the right way. I understand the basics of electricity to some extent. I can do with som expert help. We are currently using halogen portable lamp to illuminate the lounge.

Look forward to some useful comments.


Cheers

 

[breezer]

see the wiki or sticky

 

[securespark]

Can you post pictures of all wiring at ceiling and switch positions?

 

[pcboffinuk]

Hi there.

A good starting point is

//wiki.diynot.com/electrics:lighting:two_way_lighting

as there are more than one way to wire a two way circuit.

One of the old two way switch is still hanging out of the wall with three wires; our of which two(Red+black) are connected and a green wire is just hanging out.

On the other end where the second two way switch used to be there is a 3core + earth cable in place.

Is this cable a new one? If so it should be the new colours, brown/blue - or could this be an existing cable from the old setup? What colours are the other cables in the ceiling?

I am not clear why he didn't put 3core + earth on both sides.

To get a functioning two way circuit you will certainly need to have a 3 core & earth at the 1st switch - and perhaps a twin core and earth too, depending on how it is wired.

Some pictures/diagrams would help, but if not then a description of the cable cores/colours at each lighting point would be useful. Also if you have a multimeter you could try to determine where the other end of the cable in the ceiling goes to.

I presume none of this is live?


Regards

Gavin