New Homebase Dimmer Light Switch Trips the Breaker Ask questions and find answers to many subjects relating to electrics and electrical work

[LordHill]

Hello all
The dimmer switch in my kitchen recently stopped working (it feels like the pop-in part of the button has broken) so I went and bought a cheap new plastic 1 gang switch from Homebase. I'm pretty sure I wire it up correctly (yellow and green into the earth socket, black into L1 and red into L2 as per the instructions.
But when I turn it on the circuit breaker trips.

Please forgive what may be a hilariously dumb question to qualified electricians/experienced DIY folk, but are there specific switches that I need to be using? The old dimmer switch says 400w on the inside while the new plastic switch says "10AX/250v"

Many thanks in advance for your patience and any suggestions/solutions

Mike

[proptech]

Hi LordHill

Are you sure what you call the earth socket really is that. I'd be surprised to find an earth on a plastic switch.
So I suggest you have wrongly wired. The green/yellow to the earth terminal in the back box. Red to terminal marked C Black to L1 or L2

[ericmark]

Earth wires either go to back box if metal, switch if metal, or taped up for future use if all plastic so I would not expect with a simple on/off plastic switch I would not expect the earth to be connected.

Switch manufactures use different names for terminals but normally if there is a com then one wire will go to that and if not the L1 will have one wire the other will likely be marked L1 or L2.

It really does not matter which wire goes to com or L1 as long is it's not the earth.