Wanted Advice please: fitting a dimmer switch (it's more complicated than it sounds)...

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
If you're still alive at the end of this, I will expect a full report on these high-tech bulbs, whose existence you have revealed to an expectant world..
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Well, I'm gonna play it safe when I actually do it. Do I really need to remove the fuse?
Do you have actually a fuse? Most places, especially rented, will have circuit breakers now. This can be turned off to disconnect the circuit. Modern ones are rarely easily removable - some older ones, for use in older fuse-boards are, though. If it is removable, then remove it - after turning it off. It wouldn't hurt to turn the main switch off, too, first.
 

Lunar Scorpion

Anarchy in the UK
Well there's a box with all the trip switches in and another thing that appears to have a fuse in, but there is a switch beside it - so if I flick that switch off and the trip switch for the lights (or the mains switch?) I will be fine? (I'm a bit confused now... I want to make the minimum effort possible - just tell me which switches to flick and in which order and if it is worth me attempting to break into the fuse compartment!)
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
Well there's a box with all the trip switches in and another thing that appears to have a fuse in, but there is a switch beside it - so if I flick that switch off and the trip switch for the lights (or the mains switch?) I will be fine? (I'm a bit confused now... I want to make the minimum effort possible - just tell me which switches to flick and in which order and if it is worth me attempting to break into the fuse compartment!)
Wondering if got should get a mate round just in case....
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
In the absence of really knowing what you've got there, then just turn everything off and you should be OK....

I still have my copy of Protect & Survive and am sitting under the stairs with my head in a paper bag.

At this point, I will ask if the lights have a two-way switch? By this, I mean, is there more more than one switch that will turn the lights on and off - like you would get on a stairway? If so, then the wiring is not so simple...
 

Lunar Scorpion

Anarchy in the UK
In the absence of really knowing what you've got there, then just turn everything off and you should be OK....

I still have my copy of Protect & Survive and am sitting under the stairs with my head in a paper bag.

At this point, I will ask if the lights have a two-way switch? By this, I mean, is there more more than one switch that will turn the lights on and off - like you would get on a stairway? If so, then the wiring is not so simple...
Yes, that is what I've got - and a pull cord in the corner that turns one of them off so I don't have to find my way to the bed in the dark. :) As long as I can figure out which colour wire to put where, I'm sure it will be fine.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Yes, that is what I've got - and a pull cord in the corner that turns one of them off so I don't have to find my way to the bed in the dark.
Mmm - if you turn it off at the pull-cord, can you then turn it back on at the wall? If so, then that is a two-way switch and you will have an extra wire to deal with....
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
Wear some kind of rubber soled shoes too if possible, I'm sure these saved my husband in the summer (he drilled through the wall straight into the main grey cable running up from the electric box. A massive flash came out of the hole he had the drill in, but he wasn't thrown across the room and I'm sure this was due to the trainers he was wearing)

Good luck- let us all know when you've done it so we know you're safe!
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Yes. I assume if I get the one linked to below, all will be fine - yeah?
http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/light-...witch-1-or-2-way-2-x-250w-white/invt/0072646/
Yes. You can wire one that one- or two-way - I suspect that you will have one one-way switch and one two-way switch. The one-way will have two wires and the two-way will have three wires. The potential for confusion is large. It is important to know which is the 'common' wire in each case.

At this point, I am hereby absolving myself of any responsibility for the consequences.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Just before you touch the first wire, please go back and check the fuse box again. I speak as someone that has been on the receiving end of a light socket!
 

Lunar Scorpion

Anarchy in the UK
After I've turned all the switches off (mains first, then the fuse - yeah?) and at least attempted to remove the fuse, only then will I touch any of the wires in the light switch. :)
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
After I've turned all the switches off (mains first, then the fuse - yeah?) and at least attempted to remove the fuse, only then will I touch any of the wires in the light switch. :)
Even then, it would be well worth checking, via a test-screwdriver* or meter, that all is dead, just in case you're going to be.

Not everything is always wired up as it should be, or as you might expect it to be.

* The sort with the little neon lamp that will light up if you discharge a live wire through yourself..
AK1990.jpg


Wilko's have them for a couple of quid - everybody should have one.
 

Lunar Scorpion

Anarchy in the UK
I may well have one amongst all the tools in the garage that my dad left behind... If not (or I can't be arsed to check) I'll get one when I get the other stuff. :)
 
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