Light switch wiring question..
 

Hi... The other day my bathroom light/fan switch (double switch/single
gang), got burning hot to the touch. I pulled the fuse & unscrewed the
switch - you can see it here (hope this works!):

[IMG]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/
DSCN0666.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see, there are 4 incoming red wires , and 1 yellow. There
is also 1 red going from one terminal to another. Three of the red
wires go into the same terminal, & it looks like it's here that the
problem started (if you tilted the switch upwards & looked at it head-
on, the left switch is for the single light, and the right switch is
for the second light + the extractor fan).

What I don't understand is if this was supposed to *be* like this (and
has been working as such), why this happened?

Can anyone offer advice?

Cheers ... Mark

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar, 11:11, "Cap'n" wrote:
Hi... The other day my bathroom light/fan switch (double switch/single
gang), got burning hot to the touch. I pulled the fuse & unscrewed the
switch - you can see it here (hope this works!):

[IMG]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/
DSCN0666.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see, there are 4 incoming red wires , and 1 yellow. There
is also 1 red going from one terminal to another. Three of the red
wires go into the same terminal, & it looks like it's here that the
problem started (if you tilted the switch upwards & looked at it head-
on, the left switch is for the single light, and the right switch is
for the second light + the extractor fan).

What I don't understand is if this was supposed to *be* like this (and
has been working as such), why this happened?

Can anyone offer advice?

Cheers ... Mark

OK - got that a bit wrong...maybe this:

a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"img src="http://
i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/DSCN0666.jpg"
border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"/a

And also there *4* of the wires go into that one terminal...don't know
how I missed that!!

Cheers ... Mark

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar, 11:16, "Cap'n" wrote:
On 3 Mar, 11:11, "Cap'n" wrote:



Hi... The other day my bathroom light/fan switch (double switch/single
gang), got burning hot to the touch. I pulled the fuse & unscrewed the
switch - you can see it here (hope this works!):

[IMG]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/
DSCN0666.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see, there are 4 incoming red wires , and 1 yellow. There
is also 1 red going from one terminal to another. Three of the red
wires go into the same terminal, & it looks like it's here that the
problem started (if you tilted the switch upwards & looked at it head-
on, the left switch is for the single light, and the right switch is
for the second light + the extractor fan).

What I don't understand is if this was supposed to *be* like this (and
has been working as such), why this happened?

Can anyone offer advice?

Cheers ... Mark

OK - got that a bit wrong...maybe this:

a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"img src="http://
i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/DSCN0666.jpg"
border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"/a

And also there *4* of the wires go into that one terminal...don't know
how I missed that!!

Cheers ... Mark

Oh god! third time:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/DSCN0666.jpg

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar 2007 03:11:32 -0800, "Cap'n" mused:

Hi... The other day my bathroom light/fan switch (double switch/single
gang), got burning hot to the touch. I pulled the fuse & unscrewed the
switch - you can see it here (hope this works!):

[IMG]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/
DSCN0666.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see, there are 4 incoming red wires , and 1 yellow. There
is also 1 red going from one terminal to another. Three of the red
wires go into the same terminal, & it looks like it's here that the
problem started (if you tilted the switch upwards & looked at it head-
on, the left switch is for the single light, and the right switch is
for the second light + the extractor fan).

What I don't understand is if this was supposed to *be* like this (and
has been working as such), why this happened?

If it's been working then obviously it's correct, don't start playing
with it and trying to wrk out what it's doing.

The reason it's hapend is because some plum has rammed too many cables
in one terminal without securing them adequately and this has resulted
in arcing and burning, which has eventually got to this stage by
gradually becoming worse and worse as more arcing occurs and the
resistance builds up every time you use the lights.

Can anyone offer advice?

Call an electrician.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar, 11:37, Lurch wrote:
On 3 Mar 2007 03:11:32 -0800, "Cap'n" mused:



Hi... The other day my bathroom light/fan switch (double switch/single
gang), got burning hot to the touch. I pulled the fuse & unscrewed the
switch - you can see it here (hope this works!):

[IMG]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/
DSCN0666.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see, there are 4 incoming red wires , and 1 yellow. There
is also 1 red going from one terminal to another. Three of the red
wires go into the same terminal, & it looks like it's here that the
problem started (if you tilted the switch upwards & looked at it head-
on, the left switch is for the single light, and the right switch is
for the second light + the extractor fan).

What I don't understand is if this was supposed to *be* like this (and
has been working as such), why this happened?

If it's been working then obviously it's correct, don't start playing
with it and trying to wrk out what it's doing.

The reason it's hapend is because some plum has rammed too many cables
in one terminal without securing them adequately and this has resulted
in arcing and burning, which has eventually got to this stage by
gradually becoming worse and worse as more arcing occurs and the
resistance builds up every time you use the lights.

Can anyone offer advice?

Call an electrician.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Too optimistic to assume cutting back the wires & connecting them back
up the same way (making sure all's secure) would work?

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar 2007 03:43:07 -0800, "Cap'n" mused:

On 3 Mar, 11:37, Lurch wrote:
On 3 Mar 2007 03:11:32 -0800, "Cap'n" mused:



Hi... The other day my bathroom light/fan switch (double switch/single
gang), got burning hot to the touch. I pulled the fuse & unscrewed the
switch - you can see it here (hope this works!):

[IMG]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/
DSCN0666.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see, there are 4 incoming red wires , and 1 yellow. There
is also 1 red going from one terminal to another. Three of the red
wires go into the same terminal, & it looks like it's here that the
problem started (if you tilted the switch upwards & looked at it head-
on, the left switch is for the single light, and the right switch is
for the second light + the extractor fan).

What I don't understand is if this was supposed to *be* like this (and
has been working as such), why this happened?

If it's been working then obviously it's correct, don't start playing
with it and trying to wrk out what it's doing.

The reason it's hapend is because some plum has rammed too many cables
in one terminal without securing them adequately and this has resulted
in arcing and burning, which has eventually got to this stage by
gradually becoming worse and worse as more arcing occurs and the
resistance builds up every time you use the lights.

Can anyone offer advice?

Call an electrician.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Too optimistic to assume cutting back the wires & connecting them back
up the same way (making sure all's secure) would work?

A bit, yeah. The switch is bin fodder now, it's ****ed, u\s,
knackered.

You need a new switch, and soe rearrangement of the wires so you have
2 in one common terminal terminal and 3 in the other rather than 4 in
one.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Light switch wiring question..
 

"Cap'n" wrote in message
ups.com...
...
The reason it's hapend is because some plum has rammed too many cables
in one terminal without securing them adequately and this has resulted
in arcing and burning, which has eventually got to this stage by
gradually becoming worse and worse as more arcing occurs and the
resistance builds up every time you use the lights.

Can anyone offer advice?

Call an electrician.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Too optimistic to assume cutting back the wires & connecting them back
up the same way (making sure all's secure) would work?

I don't think there is a lot more you could do. When replacing the wires,
make sure they are all firmly and evenly twisted together, so they make good
contact with each other, regardless of how tight the screwn is.

And replace the switch - you don't know what damage the heat has done.

-- JJ

Light switch wiring question..
 

On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 11:57:06 GMT, "Jason"
mused:


"Cap'n" wrote in message
oups.com...
...
The reason it's hapend is because some plum has rammed too many cables
in one terminal without securing them adequately and this has resulted
in arcing and burning, which has eventually got to this stage by
gradually becoming worse and worse as more arcing occurs and the
resistance builds up every time you use the lights.

Can anyone offer advice?

Call an electrician.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Too optimistic to assume cutting back the wires & connecting them back
up the same way (making sure all's secure) would work?

I don't think there is a lot more you could do. When replacing the wires,
make sure they are all firmly and evenly twisted together, so they make good
contact with each other, regardless of how tight the screwn is.

Not good practice to twist all the wires together. There should be no
problems with not having them twisted together as long as the switch
is fitted properly. Twisiting all the wires together weakens the
conductors.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar, 11:52, Lurch wrote:
On 3 Mar 2007 03:43:07 -0800, "Cap'n" mused:



On 3 Mar, 11:37, Lurch wrote:
On 3 Mar 2007 03:11:32 -0800, "Cap'n" mused:

Hi... The other day my bathroom light/fan switch (double switch/single
gang), got burning hot to the touch. I pulled the fuse & unscrewed the
switch - you can see it here (hope this works!):

[IMG]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/
DSCN0666.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see, there are 4 incoming red wires , and 1 yellow. There
is also 1 red going from one terminal to another. Three of the red
wires go into the same terminal, & it looks like it's here that the
problem started (if you tilted the switch upwards & looked at it head-
on, the left switch is for the single light, and the right switch is
for the second light + the extractor fan).

What I don't understand is if this was supposed to *be* like this (and
has been working as such), why this happened?

If it's been working then obviously it's correct, don't start playing
with it and trying to wrk out what it's doing.

The reason it's hapend is because some plum has rammed too many cables
in one terminal without securing them adequately and this has resulted
in arcing and burning, which has eventually got to this stage by
gradually becoming worse and worse as more arcing occurs and the
resistance builds up every time you use the lights.

Can anyone offer advice?

Call an electrician.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Too optimistic to assume cutting back the wires & connecting them back
up the same way (making sure all's secure) would work?

A bit, yeah. The switch is bin fodder now, it's ****ed, u\s,
knackered.

You need a new switch, and soe rearrangement of the wires so you have
2 in one common terminal terminal and 3 in the other rather than 4 in
one.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Suppose you couldn't say *which* terminals without investigating the
wiring layout..?

Light switch wiring question..
 

In article , Lurch
writes

You need a new switch, and soe rearrangement of the wires so you have
2 in one common terminal terminal and 3 in the other rather than 4 in
one.

3 wires in each common, since a link wire will still be needed.

--
(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar, 13:56, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
In article , Lurch
writes

You need a new switch, and soe rearrangement of the wires so you have
2 in one common terminal terminal and 3 in the other rather than 4 in
one.

3 wires in each common, since a link wire will still be needed.

--
(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.

So - as the 'link' wire (I assume the wire going from one terminal to
the other) is one of the four, I'd take *1* out of the original common
and put it in the 2nd common (giving 2 in there, and leaving 3 in the
original common - with those other two (single red and single yellow)
as they are.

Mark

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar, 13:56, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
In article , Lurch
writes

You need a new switch, and soe rearrangement of the wires so you have
2 in one common terminal terminal and 3 in the other rather than 4 in
one.

3 wires in each common, since a link wire will still be needed.

--
(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.

Does this look OK?

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/DSCN0670.jpg

I took one of the reds out of the original common, & put it in the
second common (figured if they were connected via the 'link' wire
anyway it'd be OK). Otherwise everything is the same it was on the
original switch (just got a new one at B&Q).

Cheers ... Mark

Light switch wiring question..
 

Cap'n wrote:
On 3 Mar, 13:56, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
In article , Lurch
writes

You need a new switch, and soe rearrangement of the wires so you have
2 in one common terminal terminal and 3 in the other rather than 4 in
one.
3 wires in each common, since a link wire will still be needed.

Does this look OK?

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/DSCN0670.jpg

I took one of the reds out of the original common, & put it in the
second common (figured if they were connected via the 'link' wire
anyway it'd be OK). Otherwise everything is the same it was on the
original switch (just got a new one at B&Q).

You are sure that the switch is configured the same way though: ie
you've matched up the L1, L2 and C terminals in the new and old
switches? I've often found that they are in different relative positions.

David

Light switch wiring question..
 

On 3 Mar, 16:34, Lobster wrote:
Cap'n wrote:
On 3 Mar, 13:56, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
In article , Lurch
writes

You need a new switch, and soe rearrangement of the wires so you have
2 in one common terminal terminal and 3 in the other rather than 4 in
one.
3 wires in each common, since a link wire will still be needed.

Does this look OK?

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/Captain_Black_/DSCN0670.jpg

I took one of the reds out of the original common, & put it in the
second common (figured if they were connected via the 'link' wire
anyway it'd be OK). Otherwise everything is the same it was on the
original switch (just got a new one at B&Q).

You are sure that the switch is configured the same way though: ie
you've matched up the L1, L2 and C terminals in the new and old
switches? I've often found that they are in different relative positions.

David

Yeah - I'm sure I did..!

Anyway, it seems to work fine - nothing shorted/burst into flames/
knocked the building's power out so I guess it's OK.

Light switch wiring question.. NO NO NO
 

"Jason" wrote in message
k...

"Cap'n" wrote in message
ups.com...
...
The reason it's hapend is because some plum has rammed too many cables
in one terminal without securing them adequately and this has resulted
in arcing and burning, which has eventually got to this stage by
gradually becoming worse and worse as more arcing occurs and the
resistance builds up every time you use the lights.

Can anyone offer advice?

Call an electrician.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

Too optimistic to assume cutting back the wires & connecting them back
up the same way (making sure all's secure) would work?

I don't think there is a lot more you could do. When replacing the wires,
make sure they are all firmly and evenly twisted together, so they make
good contact with each other, regardless of how tight the screwn is.

And replace the switch - you don't know what damage the heat has done.

-- JJ



Do not twist the wires together, this is what probably caused the original
fault.

--

Regards
Steve Dawson
www.foxelectrical.co.uk