There is one more detail that just came back to me.
When I was removing the old dimmer, I am pretty certain that the three wires (red, black and uninsulated) were wired to the three terminals on the switch (C, L1, L2 - it was a 2-way switch used as 1-way).
This is not a setup I've encountered before. Have you seen a setup like this? Is it even standard?
In retrospect, I should have noticed the unfamiliar wiring, and at least noted it down...
Alexei
If you click on 'Spec' in the above reference, it gives you the ranges covered - one of which is 600v AC - so it's obviously designed to cope with mains.
On 2 Oct 2005 13:26:37 -0700,it is alleged that "Alexei" spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:
Absolutely not, at this point, I am going to say 'call an electrician, and NOT the one who did this'
Not necessarily! I have one which seems to have gone on the blink in the middle of a job the other day. At the start of the job it was lighting up on live wires - and a bit later, it wasn't! It was only when I got my meter on the job that I discovered that the right wires *were* live after all.
Pardon my ignorance, but is this a sufficient indication that it's designed to cope with currents found in mains circuits?
Alexei
Ouch! Mine is going into the bin (got enough screwdrivers as it is).
Alexei
On 2 Oct 2005 13:13:18 -0700, "Alexei" scrawled:
So you want to me to tell you what I would do, bearing in mind that if I was at your house doing it you would be paying for all the years of experience that have gone into acquiring this!
First thing would be to check the wiring, I'm not convinced you've connected it up properly. I'd remove all wiring from the light point, seperate and turn on power to test on the AC range which is the feed. Next, with power back off, onto continuity and make sure the switch wire really is the switch wire and I might even do a IR test on them. I don't think there are any junction boxes opn this by the sounds of it so we shouldn't need floors up or ceilings down.
Did the dimmer work the right way round, i.e. clockwise = brighter? Did you connect up all the wires in the light fitting in parrallel, i.e. all both reds to brown, both blacks to blue?
On 2 Oct 2005 13:26:37 -0700, "Alexei" scrawled:
Hang on then, here we go!
Something not right there. Sounds like a muppet fitted it, or it appeared to be connected like that but in actual fact wasn't. Was it a brass dimmer, was the uninsulated (which should be sheathed with green\yellow sleeving, actually connected to an earth terminal on the plate?
No, if it was as you say it was non-compliant and wrong, and possibly dangerous.
Might have been an idea. Next time, utilise the functions of the digital camera first ;)
Thanks for sharing this. It looks likely that I will end up getting professional help anyhow, but it doesn't mean I can't learn from the experience.
To answer your questions:
Yes it did. While I was testing it, I observed no anomalies whatsoever.
There is only one set of wires at the ceiling rose, so there is nothing to connect in parallel.
Alexei
No, the dimmer was a plastic one fitted onto a metal backbox. I am pretty sure none of the three wires were connected to the terminal on the backbox.
However, it is not impossible that my memory is wrong.
Alexei
Have you connected all the reds together and all the blacks together at the ceiling rose? If so the dimmer will be connected across the mains and not in series with the light. This will explain the symptoms. How to cure this was discused fairly recently. A google should reveal.
You're not measuring *current* - you're measuring *voltage*! You do know the difference?
Thanks for the reply. There is only one set of wires at the ceiling rose, which I have wired to the fixture (black to blue, red to brown and uninsulated to green/yellow).
Alexei
So where's your live feed? There should be 2 sets of wires at the ceiling rose i.e a feed and a switch wire.
-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite
You should *always* check any safety tester before /and/ after use against a reference. Otherwise a fault (caused by overvoltage, or any other cause) may invalidate the test.
Well, this is a DIY group :-)
Owain
The 'uninsulated' one needs a little jacket of green&yellow sleeving, otherwise it will feel unhappy and neglected and, in a fit of pique, choose the most inappropriate moment to wrap itself round Mr Red the Live Wire causing flashenbangenpoppenfusenblowenswearyworden.
Your favourite electrical emporium will sell you a big enough hank of the stuff to get you to Mars and back for 99p; alternatively you can buy some cut-length pieces in a pretty packet for a smidgeon under five of your earthly pounds.
Owain
I've not done the wiring myself, so I don't know for sure. However, the fact that there is only one set of wires at the lighting point suggests that this may be a junction-box system (no idea where the junction box is though).
Alexei
| I am replacing a pendant light together with the light switch. I've | totally disconnected them from the mains wiring -- I basically have two | sets of three wires sticking out of the wall and out of the ceiling. | | When I turn the power back on at the consumer unit, and use a mains | tester (screwdriver type) on the three wires sticking out of the | ceiling, all three are shown as LIVE. | | This strikes me as very odd. | | Is this necessarily indicative of a serious wiring problem somewhere?
Get a domestic multimeter Maplins sell them for GBP3 in the stores.
capacitative coupling to any mains source.
E,G, a bit of T&E lying next to a live cable will show 'hot' on all its wires.
Its a useful feature or a curse depending.
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