If you don’t see that white wire in the switch box, then it doesn’t have one. You’ll need to add one on your own.

How do we solve this? By adding an additional set of wires – called “neutral”– so that both lights can be occupied by a live return path. What happens if I wire a light switch wrong? It is also possible to install or fit a variation on this theme by combining dimmer and "throw" switches on the same plate. You are then able to set the light to the required ambiance and turn it on and off. The ambiance setting is remembered by the switch but can be altered just like any other dimmer. This will either sit inside the wall, in the plaster or cut into the plaster board, or be mounted on top of the surface of the wall. Plastic tends to be used if the pattress is surface-mounted and metal when it is incorporated in the wall. An intermediate switch, as you may have guessed, can essentially be used between a set of 2 way switches to achieve a 3 way switching setup.Three or two way light switch wiring may be more complicated. A like-for-like replacement should be easy for a competent DIYer. However, caution should be taken when working on multi-way switches. The lights they control should be connected to the same circuit, but there may be live cables on another switch if they're wired incorrectly. In this case the power is coming from the panel through the first switch box to the second switch box and then to the light fixture. Typically, a one way switch will have two terminals named COM (at the top) and L1 at the bottom. The brown (live feed) wire goes into the COM terminal and the blue (switch wire) wire goes into the L1 terminal. The blue (switch wire) wire will normally have a brown sleeve or tape indicating that it is also a live circuit and not neutral circuit as the colour would normally suggest. As far as switches go, the single-pole switch is the go-to workhorse for general purposes. This type of switch is used to operate lights, fans, or any other device from a single location. The switch only controls the flow of the current in one direction. As accessing junction boxes to wire in a new light or fix a fault can often involve pulling up floors or making holes in ceilings to locate the actual junction box, this can be a real hassle and often involve lots of expense.

This method is commonly used for shutting off 240 V loads. Since 240 V loads do not have a neutral wire it is considered by code to be safe to break both sides of the circuit. Finally the 2 neutral wires from the previous and next light supply cables should be wired to the neutral terminal containing the neutral wire for the light fitting Jordan Batchelor from JB Electrical reveals what L1 and L2 mean, "There are two ways of connecting a light switch, one way and two way.In a one way switch installation you simply connect the incoming permanent live conductor into the common terminal and the switched live conductor (going to the light fitting) to the L1 terminal. Two way is used for when you have two light switches switching one light, e.g. one switch at both ends of a hallway. This is when you would use the L2 terminal." A common question we get about wiring a light switch is, “Where does the neutral go?” The answer to this question depends on where the breaker box and main panel are located. This creates a flip-flop action between the 3 ways which actually transfers power from one location to another to then turn off or on the light fixture.Wiring a 4 way switch is more complicated. A 4 way switch is installed between two 3 way switches. This is so you can switch the light from 3 different locations.

A noteworthy feature of double pole switches is their four hot brass terminal and a ground terminal. This enables you to attach the switch to two pairs of power sources from a 240-volt circuit. You can find out more on this type of switching system here. 6.Does It Matter Which Wire Goes On The Light Switch? As mentioned, the 2 live wires from the cables that supply the previous and next lights should be wired to the live terminal containing the wire from the switch wire Because 240-volt circuits operate with two individual "hot" wires, these switches have four brass-colored screw terminals to allow control of both hot wires in the circuit—the incoming wires are attached to one set of screws, and the outgoing hot wires are attached to the other set of screws. These switches are usually rated for 30 or 40 amps, rather than the 15 or 20 amps for standard single-pole wall switches. We’ve all had this question before, and it’s easy to answer: did you see a white wire in the switch box? If so, then your light switch has a neutral wire.Next connect the blue neutral from the supply cable form the ceiling rose to L2 and wrap some brown electrical tape or sleeving around the neutral to indicate it’s an intermittent live