How to wire up my dimmer switch?

[MROOD]

If you have tripped the fuse box there is a good chance the dimmer is now busted...

How did you connect it to make it trip the fuse box?

basically i guessed and joined the wires thinking it would be fine if i got it wrong, then when i switched on the light I saw a spark on the dimmer switch with a bang noise, at the same time the trip switch electric panel disarmed the electricity for the whole flat, indicating i did it wrong


its just 3 wires, simple but i effed up

 

[MROOD]

CPC in one of the dimmer terminals?

not sure what that is...

 

[MROOD]

Now as in after it went bang?!!!?!

The switch would have to be really faulty to cause an MCB to trip, even if the insides were all blown and shorted, the light(s) would just be on all the time, with no dimming action. Unless lamp blew at first switch on, which tripped MCB and damaged dimmer?

well i will try to use the same dimmer to see if it works, i will take EFLImpudence advice and follow this: Red to L1 and Black to wavy line.

 

[MROOD]

Is that a genuine Crabtree or a low cost fake which might have a short between the shaft of the knob, ( live when it should be isolated ) and the metal front plate ?.

not sure, i bought the dimmer switch from B&Q for £10 a few years ago, but i never got around to doing it as im abit lame with electrics, hence why it took me that long to build up the courage to fix it finaly, but I failed, hey ho

 

[MROOD]

hello people, jus to be sure, i texted someone my situation and they advised to:

put black wire to L1

miss out the L2

red in the wavy line with arrow

But the guy above advises to do the opposite?

I just dont want to damage my last dimmer switch..

 

[flameport]

One wire in L1, the other wavy line
or one wire in L2, the other wavy line.
Colours are irrelevant.

One wire in L1 and one in L2 will not work, but will not damage anything.

If you connected all 3 wires to the dimmer and then there was a bang, it is probably destroyed.

 

[MROOD]

One wire in L1, the other wavy line
or one wire in L2, the other wavy line.
Colours are irrelevant.

One wire in L1 and one in L2 will not work, but will not damage anything.

If you connected all 3 wires to the dimmer and then there was a bang, it is probably destroyed.

i tried it in that scenario and the other way, it doesnt work either way, i think i know what the issue is, before I started on the dimmer switch i took off the ceiling light which revealed 6 wires instead of the usual 3, 2 red 2 black and 2 yellow, they were all wired in the ceiling light and i joined the red black and yellow together now the wall switch doesnt work,

i forgot how the 6 wires were wired in on the original light, the original light has a loop connection in the middle but my new ceiling light has no loop, just the bog standard 3 connections, so now i need to figure out which of the six wires to use and in which combination...


i thought it would be easy, 1 room 1 switch 1 light, but now its a nightmare.

 

[EFLImpudence]

That's why there are electricians.

//www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Lighting-Rose

//www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:index

 

[Echo the husky]

I don't see how you could connect a dimmer up wrong with no neutral to destroy it.

With the wiring changes at the light, it looks like there could well now be a neutral at the switch!

 

[flameport]

i joined the red black and yellow together now the wall switch doesnt work,

The switch is destroyed. Buy a new one.

 

[Echo the husky]

But don't connect it without returning the light wiring to its original configuration!

 

[deadshort]

It would have been cheaper to get an electrician in

sorry, DS

 

[MROOD]

It would have been cheaper to get an electrician in

sorry, DS

i did get a electrician, some Romanian guy popped over and connected the new light to the ceiling, but then the light was permanently on , he said there is not suppose to be 6 wires, 2 red 2 black and 2 yellow, then he connected the light switch to the wall and that did not work, again my 2nd dimmer switch made a noise and the tripped kicked in, he then said he needs to connect a pair of wires to the light and leave the 2nd pair unconnected, I felt un convinced so I said I was busy and need to go out as he spent 2 hours faffing around, I offered him £30 as a goodwill gesture but he did not accept the monies as he failed to fix the light on, so I said i would call him when I was free, I wont bother now

 

[MROOD]

But don't connect it without returning the light wiring to its original configuration!

i cant return the wires to the original config because the existing bayonet ceiling light had IN LOOP LINE EARTH from six wires connected from the ceiling, but the new ceiling light has L EARTH N and requires 3 wire connections so thats why its puzzling, I know thats the reason why my wall switch aint working because the ceiling light needs to be correctly wired up, I will research some more but may have to get a professional electrician, they charge like £120 call out charge as well as more charge for connecting the light, I feel £200 for a ceiling light is way to expensive, and that Romanian wanted £45

 

[deadshort]

An electrician with a multimeter will take mins to identify the switch wiring. Always mark the cables before removing or disconnecting

DS