The rare ability of an individual to impart complicated instructions in its simplistic form to the masses ,most of whom like myself find this electrical world a mystery. Teachers out there please note , this is how you teach , now no longer a mystery , many thanks from a grateful student
Hi John Just started my electrical course a couple of weeks ago and your videos are a massive help in understanding all the different parts involved. I was worried I wouldn't understand switches but you have made it so simple to comprehend, Many thanks and keep up the good work. Its all very much appreciated.
It's rare to find people who know their field very well but still can lecture to complete newbies without skipping important details or jumping back and forth etc. If everyone in the education business was this good the world would be a better place.
I should have revised this video this morning. What I thought would be a straightforward consumer unit upgrade had turned into a baptism of fire. Having to change all connection as neutrals were being switched instead of line, then on a two way light the Single core cables, all red, not descenrable from each other could not fathom what was going on, not getting readings as expected, one switch worked, other didn't, hair loss was inevitable till I plumbed for switch must be faulty. Unsurprisingly, switch was faulty. Lesson learned, go round checking all accessories before I start!!! So now we're leaving the EU, can we go back to our original colours, especially red, white and blue for 3 core, how patriotic. Oh yes, great videos John.
Hi thank you for this video I'm not a qualified electrician but I know the basics and multiple way switching can get a bit confusing thank you so much for your video I always like your videos please keep them coming
I agree with the many comments below. Showing an electrical schematic clearly shows HOW and WHY each wire is connected to a specific terminal. Those vids that show just the wiring confuses people IMO. As an electrical engineer (retired) turned electrician I have always shown this type of schematic. I know they understand the connections after being confused. Great vid.
What a fantastic video. As a non-electrician I’ve never really considered how the circuits actually work. Any time I’ve had to replace a switch I’ve just continuity tested the switches and replaced like for like.
Thanks for this. Having spent a couple of hours trying to put light switches back on my 3 way set up, and not getting it to work, I now understand one of them needs to be an intermediate. After this solid understanding of the theory, it took 5 minutes to get it right.
I had seen both method 1 (conduit) and method 2 (house style) and always wondered why would they even do that.. (yes, I am watching a video of something I already knew) Method 1 always seemed easier to understand and uses less cabling.. Why would anyone use method 2?? It wasn't until I seen the way that John drawn it I had the 'AHA' moment and noticed Method 2 works better when power goes to the light, but just before being wired in, the switch is (kinda) like a spur. (Not really, but it's how I am going to remember it) But Method 1 works when the power comes from Location A, gets a switch along the way, but the light is in Location B, and the light will just be connected to neutral in whatever way it wants.
Thank you john, you are a great teacher. I have always wanted to understand electrical lighting cicuits and you bring much needed clarity to my knowledge on the subject. Best regards.
I just fitted a second switch in my garage,-was fed up fumbling in the dark,-so I followed John's 2nd method[above] in this video,- works perfectly, easy to follow, so thanks John!
I always wanted to know how to add a second light switch to control the same light. Now I've found it with crystal clear instructions that even a dummy can overstand. Thanks a bunch for making this so clear.
Simply the clearest description and explanation of lighting switch connection I have ever seen ... but did I detect just the smallest hint of sarcasm towards the end there? Surely not! ;-) Thanks for your videos John, they are an invaluable resource!
This teaching is a topnotch, you made it so simple, I couldn't drop my phone till the end. truly you are a great Teacher, thanks to @Robert of Access Academy, another electrical guru who recommended your channel to us, his student.
One minor quibble. The phase rotation using the old colours was red, yellow, blue. You reversed yellow and blue on this video. A very clear explanation of switching arrangements. Students will be helped by this.
jw rocks again explaining stuff to simply, wish u were about when I was an apprentice in the early 80s. Still enjoy your videos 📹 john ( northern Ireland)
Thank you John for your excellent explanations. I've just found the reason why my dining room light with two switches wasn't working and fixed it. A small thing, but very satisfying.
Here in New Zealand, we use 1mm 3 core wire ( I forget the name of it), the colours are Red, White and Blue. The outer plastic insulation on the cable is yellow, It's a bugger of a thing to work with because it breaks all the time while stripping it. We also use 1mm for residential lighting as well
I absolutely love all your videos. Clear, educational with easily understood, uncomplicated diagrams. One question I have: if you’re running the power from the consumer unit to the light switch and not the light, and you want the light to be 2way/3way, how are the switches wired. Many thanks.
My sparky is a drunk and he left me bunch of cables sticking out of the walls. Thanks to these "lighting" series I just managed to connect all sockets and switches. Much appreciate it.
At around 17:00, an alternative way of understanding the intermediate switch is that in the parallel position the end switches are connected as before, whereas in the crossover position, it appears to each end switch that the other switch is in the opposite state than it really is. Thus on and off are interchanged when you move the intermediate switch. This immediately makes the use of a fourth, or forty fourth, intermediate switch obvious. If there are an even number of crossovers they cancel out leaving the end switches working as before; of there are an odd number then it's as if there is a single crossover. Whether you prefer my explanation or JW's is a matter of personal preference
Thanks for this John, helped me sort out a 'two way' switch that had been wrong for years. Gave me an idea for a video suggestion, any tips on how to figure out where old wires are going where in a building without ripping them all out of the wall?
much appreciate ur work john.. there was a little mistake which doesnt matters to me as i know it being an electrical engineer graduate.. keep uploading more videos.. ur great
My mate was a time served electrician and he had to stop working due to ill health but he was always helping people out and one day asked me to take him to a friends house where the local residents association had rewired the house, he put the hall light on and the landing lights came on and vice versa and then the upstairs switch that turned the landing lights off and on didn’t work, the first thing he did was draw a diagram of how they should work and then had a look to see how it was wired, half an hour later and half a roll of wiring and it was sorted and the reason why we needed to rewire was he found a screw through the conduit and plastered over, me I made the tea I’d the most important job that day and it was a freebie
Dear John, -- I think important correction, You should be saying Red, YELLOW, BLUE which then become Brown Black Grey ... Granted this matters less in this specific (lighting) case as that usually relates to swapping over L1/L2, but still I think from point of view of discussing official colour change this is a problem. E.g. when talking 3-phases, this will reverse the phase-order... Essentially this is (as I see it) factually incorrect. Hope that helps!.
That last wiring example with the two switch setup I found to be just plain weird. I don't really think we use it in Canada. The other thing I found in another video was rating 2.5 mm2 wire at 26 amps. 2.5mm2 wire is between our 12awg and 14 awg wire. Where 14awg is the skinnier wire which is rated at 15 amp and 12awg is rated at 20 amp in Canada. The 15 amp circuit at 120 volts is the common one, whereas the 20 amp circuit is just coming into use for kitchen appliances, because the former standard was split 15amp circuit for kitchen use. The split circuit could actually give 240 volts across the two hot wires, so the duplex outlet was split - a joiner bar was broken off that connected the two hot terminals. A special two-pole breaker was used which turned off both hot lines simultaneously. Wiring for that outlet was white for neutral, black for one hot line and red for the other, or two separate cables with white and black. Ground(earth) in Canadian wiring is a bare copper wire usually or occasionally a green conductor. The split circuits met their demise with more use of the GFCI (RCD) outlets. So a 20 amp version of the outlet became available. Actually, the outlets were always rated at 20 amps, but a plug that is used on an item requiring 20 amps is slightly different, with the neutral pin being turned 90 degrees. The outlet is configured so it can take either the 15 amp or the 20 amp plug.
In my building the upstairs light only turns on when the downstairs & upstairs switch is in down position. Rest of the combinations keep the upstairs light off. How should I determine which switch is bad, upstairs or downstairs switch? Thankful for explaining it so well.
thats very interesting i didnt realise you could use the two way switches backwards using three core cable. i have always used them in the tradional way but you need to use four core cable which you did not mention. two lives,neutral and earth. very clearly explained though. thanks
I have two-way switching in my bedroom - and there is a spare box by my side of the bed (there is a switch the other side). There is no wiring in the spare box or I would have looked into three-way switching. As it is I now have remotely controlled LED bulbs in both fittings, enabling control from my side of the bed.
I have worked supply side for many years (learned on the 14th Ed. Rules and Regs. as was) and whilst I love these videos I do occasionally hold a different opinion to John. However on these ridiculous colours we now have to work with utterly and wholeheartedly agree; what were the IET/IEEE, whichever incarnation it was, thinking of. Oh well, spilt milk and all that!
The glories of committee decision making. Where the most boring solution garners the least opposition! I'd have preferred Red, Green, and Blue for the three Line phases; White for Neutral; Black for Protective Earth.
good video, well presented. only pick up would be order of colours RED, YELLOW, BLUE to BROWN, BLACK, GREY just so not to get confused when wiring 3 phase.
John - thanks for these videos. The best I have seen so far. I get the concept but I don't quite get how to extend the concept to multi gangs. In my bedroom I want a 3-gang (1-main light, 2-bedside lamp A, 3- bedside lamp B) a 2-gang (1-main light, 2-bedside lamp A) and another 2-gang(1-main light,2, bedside lamp B). I can't find a way to wire all the 2-ways together. I understand that all of these will be 2-ways. However I can't get all the wiring diagram right.
Brilliant John . I’m struggling to find a video on 3 switches but with a dimmer included. I have a double switch at the bottom of the stairs which turns on the lights going up the stairs and landing and also the switch for the hall light. How do I add a dimmer on the landing lights that stays to the dimmed level regardless of which of the 3 switches are used . ( one at the bottom of the stairs , one at the top and one further along the landing )great video .
If you don't mind me asking, where are the neutral and earth wires placed in this positions? Thank you very much for uploading these informative and helpful videos! Kind regards, George
Earth is taken to all points, light fittings and switches included. Neutrals can be take to the light fittings only, or to both the switches and the lights. Although the basic switches in this example don't require a neutral, it's useful to have a neutral there for installing smart switches in the future. N&E connections covered in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dnpV781c6Sw.html
In the conversion method you instruct that the switch 1 connections should be connected to the corresponding switch 2 connections. For clarity, imagine a face: Switch 1's nose connects to switch 2's nose (common 1 to common 2). However, you have switch 1's "Left Eye" connected to Switch 2's "Right Eye". Is this correct? If it were "corresponding", the figure should look like this - : X : - with wires crossing over the common wire. Please clarify.
Excellent video, thank you. When they changed the colours of wire, what was the rationalle behind the decision ? Like you pointed out, the colours they have chosen do not stand out from each other as the old colours. To me, a layman, it seems a step backward with regard to a H & S choice. The more different they are the less choice of getting mixed up....
Sorry for the random question but are upstairs lights usually connected in series, in one, then out to next light? Noticed bathroom spots not working and room ceiling rose. Other room spots are working.. Could be bulbs but if one bulb goes does that mean rest of lights further down that circuit wont work?
One minor point I wish you had covered. How do I wire an intermediate switch as an ordinary two-way switch? I have a three-storey house with a three-gang switch on the middle landing. Currently I can switch the middle landing light from the ground floor but not the top floor. I have obtained a three-gang intermediate switch. But only one of the three needs to be used as an intermediate. How do I wire the other two?
For a 2 way, use 3 of the 4 terminals. For most intermediates, two terminals next to each other will be L1 and L2, then either of the terminals on the other row will be Common. They can also be used as a 1 way by using only 2 terminals, one on each row. What's inside the switches is covered here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eKFICF88AkY.html which should explain how they work inside and therefore which terminals do what.
Hi John. I am using the switch connecting system, as I want to install a number of downlights. This is straightforward with the exception that I want to incorporate two way switching using 3 core and earth. Where previously I would intend wiring the brown wire from the power in cable to the Common, in the video the black wire from the 3C&E is wired to Common. Can you please describe the correct wiring in this situation. Thanks
The switch wiring is exactly the same as in the video. The only minor item with a dimmer and a normal switch is that the other switch is only on/off, so, the light can only be turned on/off at whatever the dimmer is set to.
Wouldn't the use of the "conversion method" with the 3 core & earth cause capacitive coupling (sometimes called induced current) which would cause LED fittings to flicker or glow even when the switches are in the off position? Therefore the previous method in your video would be preferable.
Hi John, I hope you are still doing your RU-vid videos, I have a question, I want to control five led wall lights, with individual switches, with two two way light switches, first of all, is this feasible and safe ( from the consumer unit, fused at six amps ) and secondly, this is off grid, do you think that this will work ok. Many thanks for any advice that you can give. I am now going to look through any other videos that you have posted. Once again, thank you.
