Light switch

booyaka · Jan 23, 2010

Someone asked me if I could move a light switch to another point in the same room. Haven't done it yet but had a quick look at the cabling behind the switch and noticed 2 neutrals connected together by means of a connector block and the 2 lives going into the 'L' and 'L1' switch (only a 1 gang, 1 way switch)

Looks to me that the light hasn't been wired either using a rose or junction box and could be for the following reasons -
(a) taken as a spur from a nearby socket to the switch and then fed from the switch to the light
(b) the only light on its own circuit with no rose or JB used
(c) the last light in a lighting circuit with no rose or JB used.

Haven't looked at the CU yet but my question really is is the light switch ok being wired like that?

Spudnik · Jan 23, 2010

Nothing wrong with looping the circuit through the switch.

Makes fitting lights much easier when there is only one cable to contend with.

jjjinx · Jan 23, 2010

the problem is understanding where the supply is coming from, the wiring as jason said is fine like that but if its a spur off of the ring then it should have an fcu before u go to the switch or the light where ever the circuit first goes to.

More likely its a spur or end of the lighing circuit but turn off the lighting circuit and see if it goes dead proceed from there.

Moving the circuit in and the switched feed could be hindered by where the supply is coming from.

Jason Smith · Jan 23, 2010

Thanks for asking this question, I frequently use live to switch,( off the lighting ) and needed this wake up call to be aware that when working on such an arragement installed by others it could actually be fed from a socket.However,I always test for voltage even after isolation at the Board I guess it wouldnt of been to long before I got a live indication. That would of been a wake up call as well.
It is common to take power to the light s from the power, howeve,r dead common is to forget to drop the fuse in the fs to a 5 amp. You dont say the colour of the lives in the switch, dont forget you have to sleve all live conductors in brown, so if they are red going through the switch, sleeve them in brown.

super_stuey · Jan 24, 2010

Jason Smith said:
You dont say the colour of the lives in the switch, dont forget you have to sleve all live conductors in brown, so if they are red going through the switch, sleeve them in brown.

Are you sure you don't just have to put a sticker at the board showing 2 colours of wiring used? There might not even be any new colours for that matter. Otherwise if you did a board change are you gonna go to every socket, switch and light and sleve every red conductor brown?