architrave switch: daft question

[Fred]

Hi,

I have a crabtree patress box for an architrave switch and one end is marked "top". Is there any reason it has to have this end at the top? I ask because the top only has one cable entry; the bottom has two and I would like to drop two cables through the top. Is there a reason I can't install it upside down?

TIA

[nicknoxx]

Because the switch will be 'on' in the 'off' position? (unless 2 way)

[chris French]

That was much first response, but Fred says 'patress box' not switch.

So no, I can't see any reason not to mount it the way he wants.

[Dave Osborne]

He's talking about the backbox, not the switch. You can fit the switch on the backbox either way up.

[Dave Osborne]

There's no obvious reason why the manufacturer elected to print "top" on the architrave patress. You can mount it either way up, unless Crebtree live in a strange universe where you can only mount the switch one way up relative to the patress.

Basically, if you can mount the switch either way (which I expect you can) then you can mount the patress either way.

[ARWadsworth]

I am not sure that you can on the Crabtree ones! Zoom in on the picture and look at the lug under the earth tag

I don't have one to check it with.

Unless you are fitting a retractive switch then it really does not matter as you will use a 2 way switch

[Dave Osborne]

Ah, well spotted. As you say though, with a two way switch and a one way circuit, the problem can be overcome by installing both the patress and the switch upside down.

[ARWadsworth]

Or an angle grinder on the lug!

[chris French]

Ah yes, could be.

[Fred]

Thanks for all the replies. I have mounted the box upside down. The lug is a bit of a red herring, it does not foul the switch, so it seems the switch can be fitted in either direction.

TBH I'm not sure which way up my switch is fitted, I didn't realise until today that they had an "up" and a "down".

I can understand the need to have a top on other switches (e.g. FCU or

20A switch) that have a red bar painted on the rocker or the word "ON" to show that the switch is on but I've never seen a light switch with either of those markings; if wired 2-way, either position could be on or off on a light switch. Perhaps it's just cheaper for carabtree to print "top" on the backs of all their accessories whether they need it or not?

I've also fitted a crabtree 3-gang light switch this afternoon. I carefully trimmed some of the wires longer than others, only to find that the switch had "top" marked onto it and I had trimmed the wires to suit it the other way around. I was going to ask does it matter if I install the switch upside down to save me re-doing the wires but from the answers given already, it seems I will be fine to do so, which I have done.

Thanks.

[Tony Bryer]

It saves numpties phoning them up to ask which way up the box goes!

[newshound]

Also some foreign parts reverse our convention for light switches