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Light switch issue - easy fix?

My house has a very typical layout for the upstairs landing light:
1 light upstairs on landing. 1 single switch downstairs, 1 single switch upstairs.

Both of these switches turn the light on and off. BUT, if you turn the light on with the upstairs switch, you'll only be able to turn it off with the same switch. If you go downstairs the switch will do nothing! And vice versa if you turn it on downstairs you have to turn it off downstairs.

Obviously this is quite annoying when you go upstairs at night as you have to go up the stairs in the dark!

So my question is, is this easy to fix? Is it a case of pulling out the light fitting/switches and then re-wiring the back of them? Or will it be a case of needing to re-wire the whole system, e.g. run new wires all the way from the switches up to the light?

I don't mind replacing/re-wiring the light switches, but if I need to re-wire everything then I'll just carry on walking upstairs in the dark!

Comments

  • ormus
    ormus Posts: 42,714 Forumite
    edited 8 March 2012 at 12:09PM
    http://www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting:two_way_lighting:chocknonharm

    assuming you have the correct 2 way switches and 4 wire cable between the 2 switches, then wire it as above.
    (ps. old colors shown).


    pps.
    you may need a multimeter to test for continuity.
    and switch the mains off first!
    Get some gorm.
  • Avoriaz
    Avoriaz Posts: 39,110 Forumite
    pledgeX wrote: »
    ..So my question is, is this easy to fix? Is it a case of pulling out the light fitting/switches and then re-wiring the back of them? Or will it be a case of needing to re-wire the whole system, e.g. run new wires all the way from the switches up to the light?

    I don't mind replacing/re-wiring the light switches, but if I need to re-wire everything then I'll just carry on walking upstairs in the dark!
    It is hopefully just a case of being wrongly wired.

    If the correct wiring is in place then just follow the guide that Ormus has posted. Do make sure that you have switched the power off properly.

    If the correct wiring isn't there then you will need to rewire. There is a small chance that you might be able to pull the extra wires up through the existing channels. If not then you will just have to live with it if you don’t want to bother with rewiring.

    Good luck.
  • DVardysShadow
    DVardysShadow Posts: 18,949 Forumite
    pledgeX wrote: »
    ... Both of these switches turn the light on and off. BUT, if you turn the light on with the upstairs switch, you'll only be able to turn it off with the same switch. If you go downstairs the switch will do nothing! And vice versa if you turn it on downstairs you have to turn it off downstairs.

    ... So my question is, is this easy to fix? Is it a case of pulling out the light fitting/switches and then re-wiring the back of them? Or will it be a case of needing to re-wire the whole system, e.g. run new wires all the way from the switches up to the light?

    I don't mind replacing/re-wiring the light switches, but if I need to re-wire everything then I'll just carry on walking upstairs in the dark!

    Ormus has provided the diagram. Often 2 way light switching is beyond the average DIYer who does not do any research, so it all depends what your predecessor did. Obviously, they could not make it work properly, so they wired the 2 switches in parallel. Which they could have done whether the cable between the switches was 2 or 3 wires plus earth. If you have a 3 wire plus earth cable between the switches, you should be able to wire it as per ormus's link.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • pledgeX
    pledgeX Posts: 527 Forumite
    Thanks for the replies all. I just pulled both the face plates off the wall and there's only three wires going into each switch. Like the last image on this page.

    So it looks like I'll be walking up stairs in the dark until we decide to decorate again!
  • DVardysShadow
    DVardysShadow Posts: 18,949 Forumite
    pledgeX wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies all. I just pulled both the face plates off the wall and there's only three wires going into each switch. Like the last image on this page.

    So it looks like I'll be walking up stairs in the dark until we decide to decorate again!
    If you mean 3 cores plus earth, then you are very much in with a chance here. If you root around for the other ends of these cables - probably at the light fitting itself, it should be possible to wire this correctly.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • Alias_Omega
    Alias_Omega Posts: 7,916 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Try this..

    SWITCH.jpg


    3 Core - Red/Yellow/Blue

    This is the wiring that interconnects the 2 switches, making them work together.

    2 Core - Red/Black (Black should have red marking)

    This is the switch wire from the light, the supply comes down the red wire, through the switch then back up the black wire. The black wire should have a red marking to indicate that its a live cable, not a neutral.


    Another setup is to have the feeding cable in the backbox of the light fitting, in this case the supply will go into L1 or L2, with the output to the light fitting in the other L2 or L1. The neutrals will be in a plastic connector in the back.
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