Hi there, wonder if someone can help me as DIY books and google search
not provided the answer.

I have fitted an outside yard bulkhead and run the wire to my socket
for the kitchen.

Kitchen socket was originally a 2 way gang wired as one way with one
rocker.

I want to wire in the bulkhead to my replacement fascia which has 2
switches. Obviously i want to be able to turn the kitchen light on and
off without the yard light on and vice versa.

I cant seem to get this to work.

Wires are;
Bulkhead
Red - live
Black - neutral

Kitchen
2 red wired into l1
1 red to com
1 earth
2 neutral

I have tried to bridge the com wires and tried all l1 and l2
combinations but just cannot seem to get the setup right can you help.

rear of socket has
left
l1
l2
com

right
l1
l2
com
Thanks in advance for the advice.

Andy

wrote:

I have fitted an outside yard bulkhead and run the wire to my socket
for the kitchen.

By "socket" do you actually mean switch? If so then the black wires you
see connected there are not likely to be neutral, more likely switched
lives!

It sounds like you should be leaving it alone ....

hiya

no defo neutral as it says in the instruction of the bulkhead. 1 red
live 1 black neutral.

On 15 Feb 2005 13:32:56 -0800, strung together
this:

no defo neutral as it says in the instruction of the bulkhead. 1 red
live 1 black neutral.

Er, no. The instructions for the bulkhead have absolutely no idea how
your house is wired. Leave it alone and call an electrician in the
morning.
--

SJW
Please reply to group or use 'usenet' in email subject

Thanks so far guys but you are getting me worried now!! I have had it
working, but when kitchen light turned on so does the porch light and
all reference books talk about setting up a 2 way switch etc which is
not what i am wanting to do.

In article .com,
wrote:
I want to wire in the bulkhead to my replacement fascia which has 2
switches. Obviously i want to be able to turn the kitchen light on and
off without the yard light on and vice versa.

I cant seem to get this to work.

Wires are;
Bulkhead
Red - live
Black - neutral

Kitchen
2 red wired into l1
1 red to com
1 earth
2 neutral

I have tried to bridge the com wires and tried all l1 and l2
combinations but just cannot seem to get the setup right can you help.

rear of socket has
left
l1
l2
com

right
l1
l2
com

Sounds like you're lucky in that you have a neutral at the switch.

Connect the neutral (black) to the black on the new fitting.
Add a red to the two reds on L1 terminal of switch one and run to terminal
L1 of switch two.
Connect the red of the fitting to the com of switch two.

--
*It doesn't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message .com,
writes
Thanks so far guys but you are getting me worried now!! I have had it
working, but when kitchen light turned on so does the porch light

Yes, you had it working by wiring it in to the kitchen light circuit.

The normal way for light switches to be wired is what appears to you to
be live and neutral at the switch is actually just a 'switch drop' from
the feed in the ceiling somewhere (typically a ceiling rose) - basically
extending the live wire down to the switch and back (so as to switch the
live supply to the light).

If you do want to DIY this then the place to start is by getting hold of
book that describes/shows household wring.

--
Chris French, Leeds

Thanks Dave...brilliant, will look at it in daylight

many thanks indeed

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:20:30 -0800, uksolution wrote:

Hi there, wonder if someone can help me as DIY books and google search not
provided the answer.

I have fitted an outside yard bulkhead and run the wire to my socket for
the kitchen.

Kitchen socket was originally a 2 way gang wired as one way with one
rocker.

I want to wire in the bulkhead to my replacement fascia which has 2
switches. Obviously i want to be able to turn the kitchen light on and
off without the yard light on and vice versa.

I cant seem to get this to work.

Wires are;
Bulkhead
Red - live
Black - neutral

Kitchen
2 red wired into l1
1 red to com
1 earth
2 neutral

I have tried to bridge the com wires and tried all l1 and l2 combinations
but just cannot seem to get the setup right can you help.

rear of socket has
left
l1
l2
com

right
l1
l2
com
Thanks in advance for the advice.

Andy

Hmm. What I would do is seek professional advice. I think you don't have
sufficient familiarity with lighting circuits to confidently take this on.
I'm normally a "have a go" bloke, but really, no - not this time

More often than not there is no neutral present in a light switch in a
domestic setting (but there might be sometimes).

IEE regs say that black (or blue in the new colours) must be regarded as
potentially a phase (live) and cannot be assumed to be neutral.

There are at least two common approaches to routing lighting wiring and
routing the neutral. That's just for single-way circuits. 2+way gets more
interesting.

If you want to learn, I would look at a *better* quality DIY electrics
book, buy a couple of 2 way switches and a bit of cable and mount them on
an old bit of ply with a ceiling rose and a couple of junction boxes to
hand. Add a torch bulb and a matching few-volt battery and try some
practical work like that, trying out different configurations as shown in
the book.

Armed with that background knowledge, you could examine the wiring in your
house to see how it works.

Then read a guide to the IEE wiring regs and the regs themselves.

Seriously, I can't advise you to "practise" on a live job with too many of
the basics missing. It's not just about getting the connections right,
there are a fair few other ways of doing something potentially dangerous
through simple oversight.

Sorry. Not being "elitist" (I am not professional) but some practise in a
safe environment and a good bit more reading would be very worthwhile.

Tim

wrote
| no defo neutral as it says in the instruction of the bulkhead.
| 1 red live 1 black neutral.

Yes, the black wire to the bulkhead is neutral, but the black wires at the
switch probably aren't. They're switched lives, and in more recent work
would have red sleeving to show this.

Most light switches do *not* have a neutral, just live in and switched live
out. The neutrals are connected at the ceiling rose. From what you have
written I surmise that (excluding your wire to the bulkhead) there is only
one cable with two cores going into the lightswitch, this will be live and
switched live, and you will not be able to run your light from this point.

It might be possible to run your light from a ceiling rose, using new cable
to a switch, and then on to the light. It may be easier however to run the
light from a fused connection unit (fused at 3A) spurred off a convenient
socket.

You might want to get a decent diy book from the library or bookshop as it's
often clearer to understand these things once they are drawn out.

If you are in England or Wales, Part P of the Building Regulations will
apply as this work is in a kitchen -- you will have to get Building Control
approval from the council if you DIY it, or use a registered contractor.

Owain

Lurch wrote:


no defo neutral as it says in the instruction of the bulkhead. 1 red
live 1 black neutral.

Er, no. The instructions for the bulkhead have absolutely no idea how
your house is wired. Leave it alone and call an electrician in the
morning.

Yup. What he said.

The instructions in your bulkhead don't relate to what your kitchen
lightswitch has.

Your bulkhead needs a neutral.

Your kitchen switch doesn't have a neutral.

The black wires you see which you think are neutrals, aren't.

If they were, when you turned the switch on, you'd be connecting live
directly to neutral. What do you think would happen then? (Hint: use at
least one of the words "bang", "sparks", or "pop" in your answer).

Those black wires are carrying the switched live off to the lights, and
should in a perfect world either be not black but red, or have a bit of
red sleeving on 'em.

Your questions - and the confusion between 'socket' and 'switch' - make
it clear you really haven't enough of a clue to be safe. Any suggestions
we make would be irresponsible.

For the job in hand, find an electrician. For your education, go to your
library and sit down with a d-i-y manual (the Collins has good clear
diagrams), and cotton on to some basic electrical concepts.

If it makes your head hurt - make friends with your local electricians.
If it starts to make sense - knock up some trial circuits, preferably
with 12V bulbs and a lighting transformer first.

Until you have grounds to be reasonably sure you know what you're doing,
don't faff with electrics: you can't immediately see or smell or feel
the difference between a working setup and a death waiting to happen.

May you live to a ripe old age!

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi there, wonder if someone can help me as DIY books and google search
not provided the answer.

I have fitted an outside yard bulkhead and run the wire to my socket
for the kitchen.

Kitchen socket was originally a 2 way gang wired as one way with one
rocker.

I want to wire in the bulkhead to my replacement fascia which has 2
switches. Obviously i want to be able to turn the kitchen light on and
off without the yard light on and vice versa.

I cant seem to get this to work.
snip

Put simply, this thread has left me preying for your (and your families)
safety, and I'm not even religious !...

Sorry but it is very obvious that you don't have even the basic knowledge to
change a light switch, not a socket (that is something you push a plug
into), let alone wire a new circuit.

Please take the advise of most who have replied, get a electrician in, not
only to wire up your new outside light but also check any wiring jobs that
you have already tried your hand at. :~(

Christian McArdle wrote:

Thanks so far guys but you are getting me worried now!! I have had it
working, but when kitchen light turned on so does the porch light and
all reference books talk about setting up a 2 way switch etc which is
not what i am wanting to do.


Please take a step away. Put down your tools and call an electrician.

Wiring up lights is not a case of stuffing different cables into the holes
until it works.

OH, I dunno..by and large the iterative method often pays off.

Besides, that's what most sparkies do..:-)


Christian.

Thanks so far guys but you are getting me worried now!! I have had it
working, but when kitchen light turned on so does the porch light and
all reference books talk about setting up a 2 way switch etc which is
not what i am wanting to do.

Please take a step away. Put down your tools and call an electrician.

Wiring up lights is not a case of stuffing different cables into the holes
until it works.

Christian.

:::Jerry:::: wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi there, wonder if someone can help me as DIY books and google
search
not provided the answer.

I have fitted an outside yard bulkhead and run the wire to my
socket
for the kitchen.

Kitchen socket was originally a 2 way gang wired as one way with
one
rocker.

I want to wire in the bulkhead to my replacement fascia which has 2
switches. Obviously i want to be able to turn the kitchen light on
and
off without the yard light on and vice versa.

I cant seem to get this to work.
snip

Put simply, this thread has left me preying for your (and your
families)
safety, and I'm not even religious !...

Sorry but it is very obvious that you don't have even the basic
knowledge to
change a light switch, not a socket (that is something you push a
plug
into), let alone wire a new circuit.

Please take the advise of most who have replied, get a electrician
in, not
only to wire up your new outside light but also check any wiring jobs
that
you have already tried your hand at. :~(


lol, I half agree. But I think there may be a preferable solution for
our OP.

1. Put everything back as you found it.
2. Put a mains plug on your outdoor light, run it on that until you
know what youre doing. Check youve connected earth correctly at each
end, as is important.
3. Talk to use here to find out how lighting is wired up, and find out
what you need to know.
4. ONLY THEN install it to the switch.


NT

PS yes, pros do just stick the wires here and there at times until they
hit the right ones, but to do this you MUST be able to diffrentiate
between earth and earth used as live, otherwise youre putting lives at
risk.

NT