two way light switch

[steve128]

hope some kind person out there can help i need to replace a two way light fitting it is the old black type(although wiring is quite new) , with a new white one.but the instructions on the new fitting don't help me determin which way to put the wires as the old fitting has not got the same labels on the fitting, i know i am probably being dumb but just need pointing in right direction
Many Thanks
Steve

 

[IanDB]

Does this help? http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7553&start=0

 

[felix]

First things first - apart from pulling the fuse that is - if any of the old switch terminals have more than one wire in them MAKE SURE THEY STAY TOGETHER. Find some foolproof way of marking them because if you leave yourself with a load of loose ends you'll be in for a load of trouble.

So now we have three groups of wires in the old switch. Your new switch will likely be marked COM, L1 and L2. The important one is COM and you have to find its equivalent on the old switch. Remove the switch, noting which group of wires went where, and use an ohm meter. As you flip the switch, one of the three terminals will connect to one of the other two while the third one is left high and dry. The one that flips between the other two is COM.

That's one terminal sorted. The other two don't really matter. The only effect of swapping them over is that the switch will work upside down. You can correct this by turning the switch the other way up or swapping the wires. (Fuse out again.)