Replacement of Light sockets

[jpay]

Hi guys...

Right, I'm on a roll and want to replace the light switches on our recently rewired house.
The electrion had the basic plastic ones as we wasn;'t sure what design we were going for, and I knew they could be replaced at a latter date.

Most are quiet obviousy as to what replacements I need, but I wanted to check the types for our hall/landing.
(see crude diagram )

Untitled

• jpay
• 23 Sep 2010
• 1

Basically they are 4 switches, that control 4 lights.

Light X is a porch light that is independant to the internal lights (A,B,C)

Switch 1 controls
Light X
Light A

Switch 2 controls
Light A
Light B

Switch 3 controls
Light B
Light C

Switch 4 controls
Light B
Light C


OK, so currectly switch 1,2 & 4 look normal, but when I take the front off of Switch 3 it looks a lot more crowded (and confusing) than the others.

My thinking is that Switches 1,2 & 4 should be 2 Gang, 2 Way and that Switch 3 is a 2 Gang Intermediate 3 Way.

Does this sound right ?
PLus, is there anything special on the wiring for Switch 3 as it I guess is the master for light B which is controlled from 3 different locations ?

Obviously I know that I will have to earth the new switches as they will be replaced with metal rather than plastic.

Thanks in advance for you help.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

when I take the front off of Switch 3 it looks a lot more crowded (and confusing) than the others.

Crowded you can do nothing about.

But confusing you can, and you should, because working on electrics in a state of confusion is very likely to land you in a mess.

Please study the info in the Wiki (//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting), and in other books listed here: //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:books until it's no longer confusing. Learning what you need to avoid getting it wrong will take less time than trying to sort it out after it's gone wrong and you don't know why.

My thinking is that Switches 1,2 & 4 should be 2 Gang, 2 Way and that Switch 3 is a 2 Gang Intermediate 3 Way.

Does this sound right ?

Yes, although #3 is just called an intermediate. You can put any number of them between a pair of 2-ways to make a circuit with any number of "ways". Ignoring cable length issues you could have 999,998 of them to make a 1 million-way switching circuit.

PLus, is there anything special on the wiring for Switch 3 as it I guess is the master for light B which is controlled from 3 different locations ?

It's not a "master", it's just a switch, and the wiring isn't "special" it's just how it is for an intermediate.

When you read up on it it will all become clear.

 

[TicklyT]

It would just be guesswork from the diagram in your piccie. You need to know how many terminals each switch has, and where each wire from each cable behind each switch is connected, including any wire links fitted to the backs of the switches. You can't really make too many notes, but it's too easy to have too few, and end up with real problems sorting things out afterwards.

There are several different layouts and labelling conventions for switch terminals. you need to understand which convention(s) are used, and the function of each terminal to translate the switch wiring from one convention or terminal layout to another.

At least one switch must be an intermediate, with four terminals associated with each rocker, although that could be in any position. It may not be the switch nearest the middle of the house, or the one with the most wires behind it. It depends on how the cables linking the switches are routed, and that may just be down to how the electrician felt on the day he wired it!

Only change one switch at a time. Label each wire before moving it, and make sure every light works correctly from every switch in every position, and correct any problems before moving on to the next one. There's nothing worse than ending up with multiple faults on an installation.

 

[Paul-man]

I understand where BAS is coming from regards understanding how it all works, but as this is already wired up and working, the OP appears to need to just change 1 switch at a time, "like for like".

So surely, if the OP can establish which TYPE of switches he has, he can then order the correct types and tackle this.

Is there a way of identifying from the number of terminals and the terminal layout, what type of switches these are? - I'm sure there is.

If the OP labels all the wires up as Tickly has already suggested (particularly those going into switch 3) and takes a photo of it all before removing anything, I'm not sure that he could go too far wrong. (assuming that the existing terminals are labelled L1, L2 COM etc)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

1) Not all switches are labelled COM/L1/L2.

2) Not all multi-gang 2-way switches have the terminals arranged in the same way.

I don't know what variations you get between different intermediates, but I'd not be surprised if there were some.