replacing 2 way 2 gang switches with smart switch

[Dalton]

Hi all,

I have a situation which has me scratching my head and I think the reason may be because the two items I have may not work together so am hoping to get some clarification.

I have the following situation,

downstairs hallway has a 2 gang 2 way switch, switch 1 controlling lights downstairs as a 1 way switch and switch 2 controlling upstairs light as a 2 way switch.

upstairs has a 1 gang 2 way dimmer which dims the upstairs light, all working fine.

I want to replace the existing switches with led touch panel smart switches and I can get them working fine as 1 way switch and achieve dimming upstairs but no 2 way action,  or I can wire them to achieve 2 way action but lose dimming facility.

The led panel switches do not connect in the traditional way as 2 way operation is achieved with a single link wire between terminals labelled 2/way so wiring is supposed to be as follows;

downstairs

constant live to L

feed to downstairs lamp connects to L2

connection from L1 goes to feed for upstairs lamp

both switches have a connection labelled 2 way which should then be linked together

L1 and 2/way link accomplished using the supplemental 3 core cable between the upstairs and downstairs sockets

upstairs dimmer

constant live to L

2 /way connector linked to 2/way connector on downstairs switch

normal L1 output to lamp is left empty as it being supplied by downstairs L1 connection

you then sync the switches to work as a pair and thats it, and everything will work fine wired that way except wiring in that way removes any ability to dim the upstairs light as there is no feed from upstairs L1 terminal directly to upstairs lamp supplying reduced voltage.

Which eventually leads to my questions,

1) is there any way to wire this to provide 2 way switching with dimming from the upstairs switch with the current switches (no pun intended) ?

2) would it work if I had a dimming switches on the downstairs switch and replaced the upstairs dimmer with a standard on/off (not ideal for dimming purposes as dimming would normally be controlled when upstairs)

Info which may help is

a) these switches do not require a neutral feed

b) available connections on dual gang is L L1 L2 and 2/way

c) available connection on 1 gang dimmer is L L1 and 2/way

d) both switches have constant feed and feed to lamp with 3 core supplemental cable to provide 2 way functioning.

e) We do need dimming capability for upstairs lighting.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice provided

 

[Sharpend]

Oh dear, do you have a make and model for these fancy switches? 

What you have written is that from the instructions or what you interpret? 

 

[ProDave]

A lot of these fancy master slave touch control things will only work as 2 way when linked to others of the same type, they do not use the conventional 2 way switching wiring. So probably you will have to swap the upstairs one for the same type.

You can often buy then as simple switches, or dimable, so you can probably still have the upstairs one as dimmable and the downstairs as simple on off, but they will all need to be the same type.

 

[Dalton]

Hi, thanks for taking the time to help, I think the issue is that the downstairs switch (master) while the same manufacture isn't a dimmer therefore it doesnt have the intelligence required to provide dimming control options for the slave..  I have ordered a pair of different manufacture and this time all switchers are dimmable, spoke to a very helpful sales person at the internet electrical store and he assures me that their switches will do what I want.

Thanks for taking the time to offer your assistance.