Strange connection in a 2-way dual switch used 1-way?

[DABurleigh]

I temporarily removed a double light switch in the bedroom, one switch for wall lights, the other for pendant light in centre of room, but, yes, didn't note the connections, because it seemed straightforward, but am now having difficulty figuring out what the electrician was up to who fitted it!

The double light switch is a double two-way unit with 6 connections Acom, A1way, A2way, Bcom, B1way, B2way. It had 5 wires connected to it, two brown, two blue and one earth, and it is the last one that has me stumped. I connected the earth wire to the metal casing, one set of live and neutral to Acom and A1way, the other to Bcom and B1way.

The wall lights switch fine. But the pendant light now has no mains at its live wire, though still does on its loopback.

So what was the earth wire doing connected to the back of the switch, and how should have I connected it?

Thanks,

Dave

 

[ban-all-sheds]

1) They aren't lives & neutrals - they are all lives, some permanent and some switched.

2) If the "earth" was previously in a switch terminal then it is not an earth, it's being used as one of the cores in a 2-way switching circuit, which is an absolute no-no, and must be sorted out by a partial rewire. What's at the other 2-way switch?

3) It also sounds as if you don't actually have an earth present on that circuit, which is a bit alarming, given that it uses the new colours...

4) "am now having difficulty figuring out what the electrician was up to who fitted it!" I don't think he was an electrician...

 

[Job_n_knock]

Or the earth might be 2 earths with one piece of sleeving !

 

[DABurleigh]

There is no 2-way function, just a dual switch that is marked up as can be used in two-way.

OK, for live I mean permanent live and for neutral I mean switched live.

I shall play around further with my multimeter tonight.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[RF Lighting]

Were there any little links of wire connecting two or more terminals together on the last switch?