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2 lights on one switch

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 9:41 am
by m623d
Currently have one switch and 2 ceiling roses in the bedroom.
We are in the process of dividing the room into 2 smaller rooms.
I need to separate the circuits and place a switch for one and use the existing switch for the other.

I have removed the roses covers and the wiring doesn't make sense to me.

in one we have 3 cables:
Cable 1, Red to middle terminals, Black to Brown (light) terminal (switch wire?)
Cable 2, Red to middle terminals, Black to Blue (light) terminal.
Cable 3, Red to Brown (light) and Black to Blue (light) (runs to other rose so when switched on both light work?)

2nd Rose, 3 cables:
Cable 1, Black to Blue (light) Red to Brown (light) (from other rose?)
Cable 2, Red to middle terminals, Black to Brown (light) terminal.
Cable 3, Red to middle terminals, Black to Brown (light) terminal.

Now I think I understand the 1st rose is a standard light fitting, switch wire etc and Cable 3 would run to rose 2? but I just cant work out rose 2.

Any help would be apprieciated.

dodgy!

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:20 am
by Gaz
Rose 2 isdefinately not right! you dont need cables 2 & 3 for both lights to work from the one switch. whoever wired the rose is using it as a junction box for the other 2 cables. You need to find out what those 2 cables are supplying. check to see if any other lights only work when that switch is on because both cables are running from the switch terminal which is only live when the switch is on! disconnect the wires and see what lights stop working!
with regard to seperating the lights torun on idividual switches (after removing cables 2 & 3 from second rose, put the red wire from the brown switch terminal(cable 1) to the central live bar then wire your switch cable so the brown(live) is connected to the central live bar and your switch return(blue) is connected into the switched live terminal to supply your brown wire from thelight fitting( put a piece of brown tape around the blue wire to identify it as a live! you should also put brown tape on the blue wire in your switch.

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:29 pm
by m623d
Hi
Thanks for your reply.

Its rose 2 that is puzzling me too.
I cant see where the wires run from it because it is a dorma and there is no room hardly in the loft.
No other lights work when that switch is on.
Could I replace the other 2 cables on a junction box? it just puzzles me that the 2 black wires run from the brown terminal of the light, surely this will become live when the switch is on (which I guess is why you asked the question about any other lights!), shouldn't the red's be connected to the brown and the black to the centre bar?

thanks

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 10:47 pm
by Gloucester Sparky
OK I don’t normally do this but ………

Both roses are wired correctly, thank your lucky stars that the sparky at the time wired them so you could split them as individual lights should you wont to (as you clearly do…!)

Cable 1, is a strapper between the two roses. You should disconnect this at both roses.
Cables 2&3 in rose two should stay as they are.
You now need to put a new switch cable in rose 2 and wire it the same as rose 1.
The blue and brown wires are just the wrong way round, it makes no difference to safety or performance its just a case of identification.

I hope this helps

Good luck

PS, if you disconnect cables 2&3 you will knock out the rest of the lighting circuit from that point….!

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 2:31 pm
by thedoctor
MANY OF THE ANSWERS TO YOUR POSTS CAN BE FOUND, WITH DIAGRAMS, IN THE DIYDOCTOR PROJECTS SECTION. CLICK HERE www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects.htm