3 way light switchs to LED dimmer

[winston1]

Red maybe live or line. Black is not neutral, it is probably switched live.

At the first switch incoming cable red to LIVE terminal. Incomming black to LOAD terminal. Outgoing cable red to LOAD, black to S-LINK. This repeated i.e. LOAD and S-LINK on the other switches

 

[EFLImpudence]

This is what you have at the moment:

and this is what you need:

 

[EFLImpudence]

Take no notice of the 5A - I should have erased it.

It doesn't matter which colour you use for Load and S as long as the switches are all the same.

 

[semore]

thanks i'll try these wiring ideas and let you know if they work!

 

[Iggifer]

If you're going to try that, you want to do this:

Double Switch (Master)
Live - Red from common
Load - Red
S-Link - Black

Intermediate Switch (Slave)
Load - Both Reds
S-Link Both Blacks

Third Switch (Slave)
Load - Single Red
Live - Red (from T+E)
S-Link - Black

You're using the blacks from the T+E to connect the S-Link, the red from T+E to connect the Load, and then the live is just fed from the switch by the front door. The lamp is then connected at the third switch (with the red on it's own)

Do let us know how you get on

 

[Iggifer]

Oops. Helps if you load the second page before replying!

 

[EFLImpudence]

Oops. Helps if you load the second page before replying!

I've done that several times.

The site tells you if someone else posts while you are typing but not if there is already another page,

 

[Iggifer]

Yea there should be a little pop-up

"You've started a reply on page 1 of 2, and you still have unread posts" or something

 

[semore]

been too busy to try and am on nights tonight! will try after I get up tomorrow! cheers for all your advice!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

thanks i'll try these wiring ideas and let you know if they work!

This really is the wrong way to go about it.

You, and the people here "helping" you, are using, and encouraging you to use, a mix of guesswork and trial-and-error, hoping to eventually hit on the right set of connections. You're following instructions to put-this-wire-in-that-hole without actually knowing why.

Electrical installation by guessing is a remarkably foolish idea.

Please step back from this job - replace the old switches if necessary, and take a bit of time to learn how lighting circuits work

• //www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Lighting
• http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=uk+lighting+wiring+(basics+OR+101)
• //www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:books
• //www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:index

Get a multimeter, and learn how to use it, and then trace the wiring and see how each switch is wired. With that knowledge and understanding, and by understanding how the dimmer switches should be wired, you'll be able to install them with no problems.

This:

so looking at that I would just put 1 live (I presume red) into 1st (master) then in the other two just have neutral (I presume black) through the load, but how would I connect the s-links?

shows that right now you really don't know enough. You must not "presume" that a conductor is anything - you must properly identify it. There are no neutrals at light switches.

Please stop fiddling until you understand what you are fiddling with.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

then I can see no reason why it wouldn't work like this:
View attachment 94483

Indeed.

Or like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or this:

 

[semore]

hi have just tried several combinations based around your suggestions and no joy! might as well go back to school as ban-all-sheds suggests! i'm wondering if I've fried the slave switches somehow and that's why it won't work! have tried the porch light in both sides of the master and this definitely works, think I need to reconsider my options on the switches!

 

[Iggifer]

Well, it seems there are three possibilities;
1. You've wired it incorrectly
2. You've dmanaged the two slaves
3. The dimmers will only work as per the diagrams

You can try returning the dimmers for replacements, or you can acquire a bit of cable to temporarily test the correct wiring as per the diagram and see if it works