Replacing old light switches

[Julz94]

Replacing old light switches..Help please. I'm new in the game and still learning so I do apologise .. I'm putting on mk neon locator for a friend with new switcher however I'm stuck ( not with the neon locators) In his corridor he 1 gang switch that controls 1 lights. On the other end of the corridor he has another 1 gang that controls light number two. And in the middle he has a 2 gang switch that controls both. The colours used are the old ones.. And I think the 2 gang I have somehow wired it wrong. The old one had com. L1 l2 and the bottom and the top so I'm assuming the top ones are together controlling one light
I will try to upload some pictures
Thank you

 

[sparkwright]

Are these pictures of the old switches?

What about pictures of the new switches?

 

[Iggifer]

Well the 1G switch is wrong, so I'd start there.

Yellow needs to go on it's own in common
Two reds into L1
Black and Blue into L2

That is, assuming the 1G switch in the picture is connected to that 2-gang switch.

 

[Julz94]

I don't have any pictures of the new switches, they are the standard mk switches .. The 2 gang has com, l1 l2 on the left and right whereas the old ones have them top and bottom.. I think I realised where I went wrong. This is supposed.. This is supposed to be the old switch line

 

[Julz94]

Well the 1G switch is wrong, so I'd start there.

Yellow needs to go on it's own in common
Two reds into L1
Black and Blue into L2

That is, assuming the 1G switch in the picture is connected to that 2-gang switch.

Light number one is controlled by the 1 gang but it's also controlled by the two gang in the middle

 

[Iggifer]

Then it's wired incorrectly at the one gang switch

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'm new in the game and still learning so I do apologise

Mainly you need to apologise to your friend for practising on his installation.

The old one had com. L1 l2 and the bottom and the top so I'm assuming the top ones are together controlling one light

That's almost certainly where you went wrong.

//www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Two-Gang-Light-Switch

Hopefully one thing you learnt today is that you must never, ever, EVER assume.

If you couldn't, with 100% accuracy, tell from markings on the switch, or how it was wired, which terminals were which you should have tested it.

 

[Iggifer]

The easiest way to replace, like for like, is to simply undo one set of terminals at a time, move that to the new switch, and repeat until you're done.

TBH, that's still how I do more complicated light switches, it's easier than stripping it all down, marking them up etc. If it's a mess then that's often the only option, but the simplest ways are often the best.

 

[Julz94]

The easiest way to replace, like for like, is to simply undo one set of terminals at a time, move that to the new switch, and repeat until you're done.

TBH, that's still how I do more complicated light switches, it's easier than stripping it all down, marking them up etc. If it's a mess then that's often the only option, but the simplest ways are often the best.

That was technically what I was doing but I got ahead of myself, it's the old wires that confused me..

 

[Julz94]

I'm new in the game and still learning so I do apologise

Mainly you need to apologise to your friend for practising on his installation.

The old one had com. L1 l2 and the bottom and the top so I'm assuming the top ones are together controlling one light

That's almost certainly where you went wrong.

//www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Two-Gang-Light-Switch

Hopefully one thing you learnt today is that you must never, ever, EVER assume.

If you couldn't, with 100% accuracy, tell from markings on the switch, or how it was wired, which terminals were which you should have tested it.

So I guess the fault lies in the 2 gang switch.. Where the switch line cuts diagonallly..
I guess we all must learn someway, you learn by making mistakes..
But thank you

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I guess we all must learn someway, you learn by making mistakes..

Not always an efficient or safe way to learn.

I suggest that when it comes to electrical installation work, learning by mistakes is a stupid idea.

 

[Lectrician]

So I guess the fault lies in the 2 gang switch.. Where the switch line cuts diagonallly..
I guess we all must learn someway, you learn by making mistakes..
But thank you

No.

As you've been told a couple times, that one gang switch is wired incorrectly.

 

[sparkwright]

So I guess the fault lies in the 2 gang switch.. Where the switch line cuts diagonallly..
I guess we all must learn someway, you learn by making mistakes..
But thank you

No.

As you've been told a couple times, that one gang switch is wired incorrectly.

Better pictures needed.

It APPEARS the (old) 2-gang switch MAY have had the wires from one cable across all the bottom terminals, the wires from the remaining switch across the top terminals - which would be WRONG.

The 1-gang switch APPEARS to be wrong too - it all depends which terminal is the 'common'. USUALLY the common is at one end of the switch, and L1 and L2 both at the other end. HOWEVER, it has been known for SOME switches to have the common terminal situated elsewhere.

So, we need to know EXACTLY where each WIRE from each CABLE goes to in all three switches. We need to know which WIRE goes in which TERMINAL (the terminals should all be marked).

Clearer pictures or a written description will solve this a lot quicker.

 

[Julz94]

So I guess the fault lies in the 2 gang switch.. Where the switch line cuts diagonallly..
I guess we all must learn someway, you learn by making mistakes..
But thank you

No.

As you've been told a couple times, that one gang switch is wired incorrectly.

Better pictures needed.

It APPEARS the (old) 2-gang switch MAY have had the wires from one cable across all the bottom terminals, the wires from the remaining switch across the top terminals - which would be WRONG.

The 1-gang switch APPEARS to be wrong too - it all depends which terminal is the 'common'. USUALLY the common is at one end of the switch, and L1 and L2 both at the other end. HOWEVER, it has been known for SOME switches to have the common terminal situated elsewhere.

So, we need to know EXACTLY where each WIRE from each CABLE goes to in all three switches. We need to know which WIRE goes in which TERMINAL (the terminals should all be marked).

Clearer pictures or a written description will solve this a lot quicker.

Right, the one gang all the way in the other end of the corridor has yellow in common, Red in l1 and blue in L2..
The two gang switch had ( as shown in pictures) top half has yellow in common, blue in l2 and red in l1 and vice versa. With the other one gang in question I don't remember. However after seeing it somewhere the old two gang switches go diagonal as shown in a picture and post above. And that is perhaps where I went wrong.. Cause iv tried the cables terminated with yellow in common, red in l1 and l2 blue ( in the one gang I showed in the picture) and nothing was resolved... If you know what I mean

 

[Lectrician]

Concentrate on getting the one gang correct first. This is wrong. You either have a 1 way switch fitted here, or haven't used the third terminal?

One step at a time.