I had no idea so many people would be taking an interest in my little 'ole light switch!!
After a bit of thought and having seen only the first two pages of replies, I remembered that switch had been wired in by an electrician six years ago. So…I phoned the same electrician and asked him to get in touch, but the last time I called this guy it took him two weeks to return my call!
So this morning I bought two switches - a double and a single. I then unscrewed the existing sizzling switch (after turning the lights off at the mains) and took a photo!
I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to post the flipping photo…before deciding to have a go anyway! The wiring on the switch looked a bit strange and not the same as my DIY book which showed a pretty simple blue wire/red wire, but I took the old switch off, wired the new one in and…bingo! There was light!
So thanks one and all for your advice and concerns but it’s always good to try things and succeed!
If the electrician ever gets in touch, I’ll explain all to him and get his okay on my wiring jobbie!
Thanks again.
You’ve pretty much described how it was wired before: “linking the live to the common side of the other sw, I think you said it was a double sw”…so the blue was wired to one end, the red to the other end then linked to the other side. I bought a single switch, so just wired in the blue and red! It works!!
Haha! Your book’s a bit old! It’s normally a brown wire and a blue wire now; old system was red and black.
Well done anyway. I knew you were up to it and you’ve learnt another skill so you are not reliant on men. Talking of which, I keep showing my wife how to do ‘man things’ in preparation for the day when I’m in my box (I’m nine years older than her)! :shock:
I hope you don’t mind me asking you another question. When you opened the switch, did you see a green wire (or green and yellow, or it could even have been a bare metal wire) in there. It should have been attached to the metal back box and possibly also to the switch. If there wasn’t such a wire it means that your switch isn’t earthed.
As long as you don’t have metal light fittings, that would probably be OK, but if a live wire should touch the metal back box and it becomes live, you run the risk of receiving a shock if you should touch either of the metal screws. Err, it is a plastic switch casing, isn’t it?
One way around this, though, would be to replace the metal screws that hold the switch to the wall with plastic or nylon ones. Again, if you’re not sure or don’t know which ones to get, ask your electrician. I’m sure he’ll confirm this.
Needless to say, if there is no earth wire, for safety’s sake you should not use metal light fittings. If in doubt, again ask your electrician (if he should ever turn up!).
If you took a picture, please try to post it here as I’m intrigued why you had a double switch and how it was wired up before.
Oh dear oh dear! The wires in the book are definitely blue and red, with a green & yellow one at the back. The ones in my wall are definitely blue and red…with a yellow one tucked into the back…it wasn’t really doing anything, so I left it alone! But I guess this is a way of dating the wiring in the house…not sure I could rewire the whole house, but hey, if you don’t try, you don’t know, do you?
The double switch …there are two ceiling lights in the room and two wall sockets - a single - which operates the light by the kitchen; and the double - which operates the light by the sofa. But…the double has only ever operated the one light. An electrician put a modern switch on six years ago when I moved here but I think he just replaced like for like without realising it only operated one light.
It’s a great idea to ask your wife to do a few electrical jobs with your supervision, so she gets some confidence… Being on your own after a long time with a partner is a huge shock and it takes a while to have enough confidence to give things a try.
Thanks for your help x
Please don’t mind me insisting on this, but was the yellow wire (it doesn’t matter that it wasn’t green; they’ve used different colours all over the place in the past!) actually attached by a screw to the metal back box? It is a safety concern, I assure you.
This is one reason why I wanted to see the photo, just out of interest you understand. Were there only three wires behind the switch?
Yes, not just electrical jobs, though. I taught her how to use an SDS drill recently too. The first hole in the wall was a little too big, actually, but she’ll get better!
Actually, when she left school she had a temporary job at BHS in the lighting department, so already had a good grounding in attaching light fittings and such things.
You’re very welcome. I’m sure if there’s anything else you’d like help with, some of us here will be willing to assist.
The red and blue and the unused yellow is probably a 3-core cable which was normally used for connecting 2-way light switches together. Ideally there should also be an extra bare cable or one which has either green or green/yellow sleeving (depending on age of wiring) for an earth attached to the metal back-box of the switch as JBR points out, unless the yellow one in this case is being used as an earth.
Talking of which, I keep showing my wife how to do ‘man things’ in preparation for the day when I’m in my box (I’m nine years older than her)! :shock: