two way light switch problem

[gwilym]

My problem is with a light switch in the attic. It,s two way you can turn it on at the bottom of the stairs and a pull switch in the attic you can turn it on and off. It's worked fine for years, then the pull switch broke.
I took out the old pull switch and went and bought a new one.
The new one has three holes for wires bur the thing is I have four, they are all red. It,s two cables with two red wires and an earth wire.
How do I work out what goes where.
At the moment I,ve just taped the two cables to each other and now it works off the one switch. Thanks for any help.

 

[andy]

sounds like an intermediate switch or a double pole switch. what does the original say?

 

[gwilym]

Being totaly stupid I threw away the old one before I bought the new one.
What I find odd is that all the wires are red. I dident know they made them like that.
I have no idea what the setup is.

 

[Paul_C]

It sounds suspiciously like this was an intermediate switch.

Are you sure there isn't a third switch controlling that light somewhere?

 

[gwilym]

Hi, no there is no third switch, it,s simply one at the foot of the stairs and one up in the attic.
As I said it,s worked fine for about 15years, it just broke.
I should have noted the wireing before removing the old switch.

 

[securespark]

AFAIK nobody makes a pullcord intermediate, so this is unlikely.

WHY OH WHY did you not make a note of which wire went where?

Have a look at the connections at the other switch, to give you an idea of what is going on.

I don't like the sound of two t&e cables feeding a two way switch, unless one core is redundant. This system of wiring is not ideal, but better than one of the other possibilities.

If all cores are used, it could be that one of the t & e cables is the live and switch feed from the loft light to the pullcord switch position. The other t & e could be from the p/c to the two-way, using the earth as a switchwire. THIS IS A NO-NO.

If this is the case, you need to rewire the second switch or not reinstate it.

But really, you need a multimeter and a look at the other switch to get a better idea of what each conductor at the loft switch position does.

 

[Paul_C]

Hmm... Just realized you've said four wires (excluding earths), but didn't mention the terminals on the original switch. If it had four terminals, then it must have been an intermediate or a double-pole, but it could have been a regular 2-way (three terminals) with two wires in one terminal.

Can you remember if this was the case? If so, then the live feed could have been looped through (i.e. live in, live out, plus two travelers).

 

[gwilym]

Well the thing is I took out the old pull-switch months ago and have just got round to buing a new one.
I thought putting it back would be easy, I cant really swear to it but I think there were four terminals on the old switch.
The other switch is a double for the bedroom as well all the wires in it are red so I havent got a clue as to what's what.
Could I try puting two wires into one terminal and the others into the other terminals.
which ones though?

 

[andy]

you need a multimeter to establish what wire does what before doing anything else or you could risk gettin a shock. at the other 2 way switch, look at what the wiring at the back is - will be a great help to identify how to connect the pullcord

 

[securespark]

you need a multimeter to establish what wire does what before doing anything else or you could risk gettin a shock. at the other 2 way switch, look at what the wiring at the back is - will be a great help to identify how to connect the pullcord

Said that already

 

[gwilym]

Thanks for your help everybody. I,m not sure what a multimeter is I dont want to spend a lot on equipment because I rarely mess with electrics.
There is a screwdriver you can buy that lights up when you touch a live wire.
How would it be if I exposed the wires turn on the power and find out which are live. I,d guess that two would be live and the other two not.
If thats the case which wires would go where.

At the moment we're in a pre-christmas panic, we,ve got family coming over the next couple of days so I might leave well alone for now.
A christmas blackout would not go down well!

 

[andy]

Thanks for your help everybody. I,m not sure what a multimeter is I dont want to spend a lot on equipment because I rarely mess with electrics.

either buy one for £10 or pay a sparky who has 1 to do the work

There is a screwdriver you can buy that lights up when you touch a live wire.

dont waste your money. there useless and NOT recognised as test equipment due to the fact they arent reliable and dont tell you the voltage

How would it be if I exposed the wires turn on the power and find out which are live. I,d guess that two would be live and the other two not.
If thats the case which wires would go where.

you could do that, but to do that you need a multimeter

At the moment we're in a pre-christmas panic, we,ve got family coming over the next couple of days so I might leave well alone for now.
A christmas blackout would not go down well!

so your gonna leave 4 wires, potentially live, hanging dangerously over xmas to avaoid a blackout? do it properly now before any1 gets hurt

 

[gwilym]

Hi Andrew, I,m not daft enough to leave wires hanging anywhere they are well insulated and compleatly safe.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Hi Andrew, I,m not daft enough to leave wires hanging anywhere they are well insulated and compleatly safe.

Really?

I don't think so....

At the moment I,ve just taped the two cables to each other

 

[gwilym]

The wires are well taped independantly and then an overall tape.
They are not 'loose wires hanging down' as you sugested.