DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Firstly, I have to point out that I don't know much about electric. I'm asking this question to see if it is a simple job that I can easily do, or if I would need to get an electrician in to do it for me.

I have two separate double switches for my kitchen light circuit, the first being for my hall lights and kitchen lights (located in the hall), the second being for my outdoor security lights (sensored) and kitchen lights (located in the kitchen by the back door).

My issue is that my security lights will not work without the kitchen lights being turned on, I need them to be on 24/7 without having to turn my kitchen lights on. The image below is the switch in question. The side my thumb is on is the left side of the switch, the left switch is for the security lights, the right switch for my kitchen lights.



Is there a simple way to get this socket to allow my security lights to be on without my kitchen lights?

Hi
There is no way of knowing how the light has been wired up by looking at the switch wires. The outside light needs a permanent live, a switched live, and a neutral, and of course an earth. There is no neutral at that switch. There has to be a junction somewhere incorrectly wired.
You need to get an electrician to trace the wiring, and rectify the problem.

Not easy to see what you have so I'll start by saying what I can make out.
To left a pair of wires which seem to be Brown and Black which seems an odd pair of colours arranged on/off.
To right the second of a pair of two way switches using standard red, yellow and blue.
There does not seem to be any connection between the two switches and I would not expect to find the fault there.

I expect the problem lies in the wiring of the kitchen ceiling rose. Or if the ceiling rose has been removed what ever has replaced the rose.

I can only guess how it's wired but in the ceiling rose there is normally a two hole block to one side and a three hole block in the centre and I would think a wire has been put in two hole block instead of three hole block. The remaining three hole block is the neutral.