Confused about 2 gang 2-way lighting setup in our new house.

[wilkenism]

Hi All,

Hopefully someone can help me. We've recently moved into our new house and we have a 2-way switch in our kitchen which has never worked and with my limited knowledge I can't work out how to sort it.

At the moment, the 2 gang switch has 1 switch for a light in the kitchen, which should be 2-way and the other is for another light (outside) which is 1-way.

I've checked the other switch at the other side of the kitchen and the 3-core wire (red, yellow, blue + earth) for switching matches so it is not that.
I have also replaced the switch with a new one (with same wire configuration) and still no joy.

Coming into the switch we have 4 (!) twin + earth (black, red) and the 3 core + earth 2-way switching wire. All the black "neutrals" are connected together in 1 choc-block. I assume that means the supply is coming through the switch, which I haven't encountered before.
The red "lives" from the twin + earths are all over the place (definitely not right - i think the previous owner may have messed about with it), some were completely disconnected and loose in the box!!!!

What is the best way for me to proceed?

Thanks for any help

 

[ban-all-sheds]

with my limited knowledge I can't work out how to sort it.

Remove some of the limitations from your knowledge

• http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=electrical+circuits+101
  
  
• http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=multimeter+101
  
  
• http://kevinboone.net/electricity.html
  
  
• http://web.archive.org/web/20080213151445/http://www.kevinboone.com/domesticinstallations.html
  
  
• //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:books
  
  
• //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting

All the black "neutrals" are connected together in 1 choc-block. I assume that means the supply is coming through the switch, which I haven't encountered before.

Or it was wired by a numpty who had no idea that you could use the same cable to carry permanent and switched live.

The red "lives" from the twin + earths are all over the place

Have you confirmed which are permanent live and which are switched ones going to the lights?

Have you done continuity testing to verify that conductors are actually connected to the lights?

What is the best way for me to proceed?

PLAN A:

• Learn how lighting circuits are wired and how switches work.
• Get a multimeter and learn how to use it.
• Identify which conductors are which at the switches.
• Connect them all up properly.

PLAN B:

• Get an electrician.

 

[wilkenism]

Or it was wired by a numpty who had no idea that you could use the same cable to carry permanent and switched live.

Hadn't considered that! None of the cables are sheathed so it is eminently possible...

Have you confirmed which are permanent live and which are switched ones going to the lights?

Have you done continuity testing to verify that conductors are actually connected to the lights?

Ok, time to find my multimeter. It's buried in amongst tons of moving boxes , hence the question on here (with a forlorn hope that someone might have a clue what was going on). Reading back my own post its pretty obvious there is no way to tell without doing some testing on the cables.

Thanks for confirming that!