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Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Question & Answer Forum
L3 is marked as common on my dimmer switch, so why is permanent live attached to L1?
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<blockquote data-quote="Jazzy" data-source="post: 524918" data-attributes="member: 34836"><p>Evening</p><p></p><p>I'd be grateful if someone could shed a bit of light on this please!</p><p></p><p>I have a 2 gang dimmer light switch (that has a push on/off knob) that I’m replacing with a standard 2 gang 1 way switch (well, it’s actually a 2 gang 2 way, but can be used as 1 way) - I’ve replaced switches before, but the wiring in this new (but old, so has pre-2006 wiring colour scheme) house is causing me to scratch my head! Essentially I’m a bit confused as to why permanent live is connected to L1, when L3 appears to be designated as the common. Presumably this has just reversed the state of the knob i.e. off is on and vice versa?</p><p></p><p>Basically there 2 sets of cables coming in controlling 2 different pairs of light fittings:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cable on right goes to left gang which controls pair of wall-mounted lights</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cable on left goes to right gang which controls pair of ceiling-mounted lights</li> </ul><p>The cable feeding into the right gang has a red wire (R1), a black wire (I unnecessarily labelled that in the 1st image...) and an earth, and the left gang cable has a red (R2) and an earth. There is also a red loop (R1-2) connecting the 2 gangs, and both earths are connected to the box.</p><p></p><p>R1 = Permanent live</p><p>R2 = Switched live to wall-mounted lights</p><p>Black = Switched live to ceiling mounted lights</p><p></p><p>The new light switch has L1, L2 and L3 (it’s made by Crabtree) - my understanding is that permanent live (i.e. R1) would to go to L1 on the 1st gang, a loop would connect both L1s, R2 would go to L2 on the 1st gang, and the black would go to L2 on the 2nd gang.</p><p></p><p>Is there any particular reason as to why the original switch would have permanent live on L1 instead of being connected to the designated common? </p><p></p><p>Ta</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jazzy, post: 524918, member: 34836"] Evening I'd be grateful if someone could shed a bit of light on this please! I have a 2 gang dimmer light switch (that has a push on/off knob) that I’m replacing with a standard 2 gang 1 way switch (well, it’s actually a 2 gang 2 way, but can be used as 1 way) - I’ve replaced switches before, but the wiring in this new (but old, so has pre-2006 wiring colour scheme) house is causing me to scratch my head! Essentially I’m a bit confused as to why permanent live is connected to L1, when L3 appears to be designated as the common. Presumably this has just reversed the state of the knob i.e. off is on and vice versa? Basically there 2 sets of cables coming in controlling 2 different pairs of light fittings: [LIST] [*]Cable on right goes to left gang which controls pair of wall-mounted lights [*]Cable on left goes to right gang which controls pair of ceiling-mounted lights [/LIST] The cable feeding into the right gang has a red wire (R1), a black wire (I unnecessarily labelled that in the 1st image...) and an earth, and the left gang cable has a red (R2) and an earth. There is also a red loop (R1-2) connecting the 2 gangs, and both earths are connected to the box. R1 = Permanent live R2 = Switched live to wall-mounted lights Black = Switched live to ceiling mounted lights The new light switch has L1, L2 and L3 (it’s made by Crabtree) - my understanding is that permanent live (i.e. R1) would to go to L1 on the 1st gang, a loop would connect both L1s, R2 would go to L2 on the 1st gang, and the black would go to L2 on the 2nd gang. Is there any particular reason as to why the original switch would have permanent live on L1 instead of being connected to the designated common? Ta [/QUOTE]
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L3 is marked as common on my dimmer switch, so why is permanent live attached to L1?
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