two way light switch fails under less than a year of use

katejo

Cornucopia said:

There's probably a money-saving twist on this which is to buy two replacement switches from somewhere that will take them back without question if you don't use them.   That avoids the situation where the Electrician needs to make two calls because they don't have the correct replacement on their van, and it means you'll get the replacement "look" you want, rather than just what they have.

Yes I had thought of doing that. I suspect that the fault is with the downstairs 2 way switch (which was new) rather than the upstairs one which had been there for years and was only moved slightly. 

katejo

ThisIsWeird said:

katejo said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Could be a loose wire, or could be a faulty switch. 

Since it's 2-way, then one can affect the other's behaviour, giving the appearance of two faulty switches when only one is actually at fault.

You know how they operate; you can start with one switch in the normal 'on' position, and the other will then do 'on and off'. If you then place the first switch to the 'up' 'off' position (obviously not really 'off'), the other will continue to do on&off, but in the opposite position to before.

The faulty switch, whether internal or just a loose connection, could therefore only affect the other switch when the former is in one position. I think...

Anyhoo, to check for loose connections is usually well within a comp DIY task, but obviously the power would need turning off first. A sparky would almost certainly sort this very quickly.

It's annoying the other spark has disappeared, but them's the breaks, as our hallowed ex-leader once said.

Sorry, I meant hollowed.

Are you up for some DIY? To switch such a switch is very doable, but you DO need to be 100% happy you are capable of doing this. With 2-way, wire labelling is key, so do not undo anything without taking that into account.

No I won't attempt it myself. Really wouldn't know what to do. When the upstairs light was still working, I did test whether the position of the downstairs switch made a difference but didn't find a definite pattern.

No prob. It'll almost certainly be a cheap and easy fix for a sparky. The main caveat to that would be if the switch is faulty and they need to make two trips. 

Meanwhile, I wouldn't continue to leave either of these switches 'on', even if they appear to work. Fair chance of some arcing taking place, which is undesirable.

Ok thanks. I will make sure that both are in the off position when I get home. 

plumb1_2

katejo said:

Risteard said:

Cornucopia said:

It could be (and is likely to be) as simple as a single connection that has come loose behind one of the switches.   Any electrician and most people competent with electrics should be able to fault-find and fix it.   

More likely the mechanism has just failed inside the switch. It happens, particularly with budget (aka !!!!!!) accessories. Likely just to need the switch replaced.

It wasn't a really cheapy/plastic looking  one and was supposed to have a 2 year guarantee. Possibly  this one BG Brushed Steel 20A 2 way 2 gang Light Switch | DIY at B&Q

Just because it’s not plastic it doesn’t follow that it is a good make. BG same crap as they have in screwfix imo. If it’s still in warranty take it back for a refund.

ThisIsWeird

katejo said:

ThisIsWeird said:

katejo said:

No prob. It'll almost certainly be a cheap and easy fix for a sparky. The main caveat to that would be if the switch is faulty and they need to make two trips. 

Meanwhile, I wouldn't continue to leave either of these switches 'on', even if they appear to work. Fair chance of some arcing taking place, which is undesirable.

Ok thanks. I will make sure that both are in the off position when I get home. 

They don't have an 'off' position - if by that you mean that 'up' is off :-) What I meant was, if the light still works - ie it does still come on when asked - do not leave it on, because you know that a connection somewhere is dodgy, and if it starts to arc then it could overheat (unlikely to lead to a 'major' issue, but it could scorch the wiring insulation, for example). I just mean, turn the light off whichever way either of the switch positions need to be for this. If you do need the light to, say, get upstairs, turn it off again asap - don't leave it on. :-)

katejo

ThisIsWeird said:

katejo said:

ThisIsWeird said:

katejo said:

No prob. It'll almost certainly be a cheap and easy fix for a sparky. The main caveat to that would be if the switch is faulty and they need to make two trips. 

Meanwhile, I wouldn't continue to leave either of these switches 'on', even if they appear to work. Fair chance of some arcing taking place, which is undesirable.

Ok thanks. I will make sure that both are in the off position when I get home. 

They don't have an 'off' position - if by that you mean that 'up' is off :-) What I meant was, if the light still works - ie it does still come on when asked - do not leave it on, because you know that a connection somewhere is dodgy, and if it starts to arc then it could overheat (unlikely to lead to a 'major' issue, but it could scorch the wiring insulation, for example). I just mean, turn the light off whichever way either of the switch positions need to be for this. If you do need the light to, say, get upstairs, turn it off again asap - don't leave it on. :-)

No the light  doesn't come on at all from either switch.  I was a bit puzzled about your comment about 'leaving it on'.