can anyone help me with fitting this light switch....

stolt

hello, anyone knowledgeable with fitting light switches, had a nightmare with one in particular.... its a upstairs hallway switch which controls the landing lights but also has another switch on it which controls the lights in a bedroom. I'm trying to buy a relacement switch but cant find out whch one i need its not a normal 2 gang 2 way switch!

Its a retractive switch on one site with 2 x l1, l2 onnectors, and on the other is just a normal switch.... i cant seem to get a switch with both of them on the same switch and want to figure a way around it, on the otherside of the wall is single switch is also connected to another switch in the bedroom. I tried a 2 gange normal switch but cant get my head around that all the lights wont swith off or on from different positions, how can i get round it???

this is the old switch





this is the 2 gang switch i tried to use earlier on...

DVardysShadow

It looks like an intermediate switch [rather than a retractive] and a 2 way switch to me?

I take it that the 4 way section was doing the bedroom light and the bedroom light switch has 2 cables - one to the ceiling fitting and one to the hall switch you are woring on. In which case, look at the bedroom light switch and list the terminals and colours [eg L1=Red etc] and match it on the new switch.

And I am also assuming that the hall lights only have 2 switches.

diable

It has intermediate written on it, go to an electrical wholesalers as they will sell you the correct switch. Oh and exposed copper wire is a no no push them further in before tightening up the screws.

WestonDave

You might be best going into a proper electrical wholesaler and asking them if such a thing exists - the only other alternative is making one up from a modular switch (this is where you have a surround into which you can put one or more switch units so you could have your 2 way and your retractive switch as the two units in a two slot module. It doesn't look quite as clean because you can see the fact that its modular from the front.

The only other thing I can suggest is if you go to www.wilts.co.uk you can look through their entire catalogue online - or phone them up because they are usually pretty helpful whenever I've needed something.

DVardysShadow

diable wrote: »

It has intermediate written on it, go to an electrical wholesalers as they will sell you the correct switch. Oh and exposed copper wire is a no no push them further in before tightening up the screws.

I can't actually see that it has 'intermediate' written on it, but I can see where it might say that. In every respect it does look like an intermediate.

However, it doesn't look to me like there are enough cables coming in for an intermediate to be required. I suspect that it was just a switch which the original electrician [or DIYer] had which could do the job. It needs OP to confirm that no lights have 3 switches, of course.

The other thought I have just had is why is the OP changing this switch?

I suspect that the original requirement might not have been for 2 way switching, but rather to control a child's use of the light at night - ie this switch was operating as a 'master' switch, enabling and disabling the room light switch

27col

It definitely says Intermediate on the switch. It is not a combination that I have ever come across except in a modular switch set-up. There doesn't seem to be enough cables in the picture to fill all the terminals in the intermed/2way combination. Unless one of those reds at the bottom right should be in a different terminal.

ormus

27col wrote: »

It definitely says Intermediate on the switch. It is not a combination that I have ever come across except in a modular switch set-up. There doesn't seem to be enough cables in the picture to fill all the terminals in the intermed/2way combination. Unless one of those reds at the bottom right should be in a different terminal.

thats the way i see it too.