Wiring a double pole 45a pull cord

[Hyperhardcore]

Hi,

Really would like some advice on this. I have a shower over my bath which has one of these types of pull cord switches to turn it on.

Recently this stopped working. If i hold the cord down after pulling to switch on it keeps a circuit but let go and it cuts out. I asumed it was the switch itself and went and bought a new one. After a bit of fiddling i managed to reconnect all the cables the same way that the old one was but still the same problem.

Basicaly as my knowledge so i have 2 earth (green and yellow) going off to spurs on the side of the switch itself.

I have one red,blue and brown wire wired in as it was when i took it off.

The confusing part is i also have a loose black wire there aswell. should this wire be attached to the switch and thus why the last one stopped working?

i would post a pic but it quite a tight fit where it is and i cant get a decent shot of it to show you what i mean.

hopefully this very very poorly done image will help.

if that didnt work then this is the direct link : http://img405.imageshack.us/i/wiringforshower.png/

upon looking at the old unit to base my crude drawing on i have noticed scorch marks around the neutral that didnt have a wire in it when i took it off. I'm thinking that the black wire should have been in there thus why the switch stopped working and that my new one need this put in.

I havnt tried this as i dont wanna fry my electric for the house ect and although i have a basic knowledge i am not an electrician and was only attempting this coz i could copy the wiring from taking the old unit off.

Any help would be really apreciated.

Regards,

Stuart

 

[EFLImpudence]

upon looking at the old unit to base my crude drawing on i have noticed scorch marks around the neutral that didnt have a wire in it when i took it off. I'm thinking that the black wire should have been in there thus why the switch stopped working and that my new one need this put in.

It would appear you have answered your own question.

Can you tell which cable goes to the shower and which comes from the supply.

Any way if you put this black cable into the appropriate connector - is the scorched one marked 'N out' or 'N load' or is it 'N in' or 'N supply'?
So put the black wire into the same terminal on the new switch and the red cable into the matching L terminal.
Then the brown opposite the red and the blue opposite the black.
Put the earths, sleeved with green/yellow, together in the earth terminal.

DON'T FORGET TO TURN OFF THE POWER if you have turned it on to find it didn't work.

Make good contacts and do the screws up tightly.

 

[Hyperhardcore]

Hi again,

thanks for the quick reply EFLimpudence.

i dont know if the empty slot i have is the load. inbetween where i marked the blue and the brown cable is says

Des. R.
England
LOAD

only other info i can give is that i have 2 white wires going from the illumation lamp (red light thing to indicate its on) going too two terminals between and blue and brown wire if that helps confirm your conclusion.

Thanks again,

Stu

 

[EFLImpudence]

That will be the end going to the shower with the neon light.

So the red will be on the other side of the switch opposite the brown and the black opposite the blue.

Any burnt insulation should be cut off and the wire taken back to clean, shiny copper. Might be a bit tight but should be done to avoid trouble in the future as overheated copper will be very soft and impossible to get tight.

Looks as if your switch might just say LOAD on one end as the other end will be supply i.e. top and bottom. It doesn't matter which way round the L & N go as long as it's red to brown and black to blue.

 

[Hyperhardcore]

Fantastic. Will get that done tomorow and see what happens.

Thanks again for your speedy reply and help. Very much apreciated.

Regards,

Stu

 

[securespark]

It doesn't matter which way round the L & N go as long as it's red to brown and black to blue.

Just to clarify, make sure to identify the incoming and outgoing terminals on the switch. THe outgoing terminals have the neon connected to them.

If you connect the incoming supply to the outgoing terminals, the neon will act like a locator, rather than an indicator.

IE it will be permanently on, rather than on only when the shower switch is on.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

After a bit of fiddling i managed to reconnect all the cables the same way that the old one was but still the same problem.

Basicaly as my knowledge so i have 2 earth (green and yellow) going off to spurs on the side of the switch itself.

You really found the earth conductors in those small holes in the side of the switch?

To me they look like where the wires for the neon indicator would go.

The confusing part is i also have a loose black wire there aswell. ....

i have a basic knowledge

But you don't.

That's not a criticism, just a reasonable observation based on what you've written here - you genuinely don't have even a basic knowledge, but thinking you do has led you to fiddle with this when really you should not have done.

i am not an electrician and was only attempting this coz i could copy the wiring from taking the old unit off.

You copied something which wasn't working.

And I am very worried about where you say you found/put the earth wires. If those are the terminals for the neon, and if you don't have an RCD you have a 50/50 chance of wiring it up so that no fuse will blow/no MCB will trip but you will have created a lethally dangerous situation.

PLEASE get an electrician in and spend a bit of time learning about electrics before doing anything like this again.

 

[EFLImpudence]

so i have 2 earth (green and yellow) going off to spurs on the side of the switch itself.

Surely he means the proper earth terminals on the bar riveted to the screw holes.
It doesn't look possible anyone would manage, or even try, to get the cpcs (earths) in the neon terminals.

Anyway, just in case -

View media item 31329

Whoops, had cables the wrong way around - edited - correct now.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You'd think that, but look again at how he's drawn it....

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Find answers and ask questions direct at [link removed]

[link removed]

Question:
What is the formula for calculating the voltage drop for a set length cable and how to i work out what the maximum length cable is my circuit can be?

Wrong Answer:
.
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(ref. IEE wiring regulations Appendix 6 Table 6D2)
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Right answer:
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(ref IEE Wiring Regulations Appendix 4 Tables 4D1B, 4D2B, 4D3B, 4D4B, 4D5, 4E1B, 4E2B, 4E3B, 4E4B, 4F1B, 4F2B, 4F3B, 4G1B, 4G2B,......
.
.


Question:
Can I use 2 dimmer switches on a two way light circuit?

Wrong Answer:
Unfortunatly not. One needs to be a standard 2 way switch.

Right Answer:
Yes you can but you have to use dimmer switches designed to work together in this way.



Question:
What is supplementary equipotential Bonding (Supplementary Bonding)?

Wrong Answer:
Supplementary Equipotential Bonding is connecting together conductive parts of an electrical item and non-electrical item such as an electrical shower unit and the copper pipe work of the bath in order to prevent the occurance of a dangerous voltage between them under an earth fault connection.

"conductive parts of an electrical item"? - What, all of them? Would that be safe?

"non-electrical item such as ...the copper pipe work of the bath". Even if the pipes are not extraneous-conductive-parts? Would that be safe?


Height of sockets, switches & controls
"The building regs require that all switches and socket-outlets be installed so that all persons including those whose reach is limited can easily use them. Sockets-outlets and switches should therefore be installed at a height of between 450mm and 1200mm from the finished floor level."

Wrong.


I can't be *rsed to look for any more confusing, badly written, incorrect rubbish on your site, riddled with grammatical and spelling errors.

Go away, you pointless and incompetent waste of space.