This should give you a good basic understanding how the 2 way switch circuit works and will help you in adding or changing a 2 way switch.
2 way light switch diagram uk.
Schematic diagram of new wire colours.
Two way switching is the most common requirement for many household and commercial lighting solutions.
Whether it is the switching of a light from two different places inside a domestic dwelling or switching a series of lights in a commercial environment two way lighting circuits provide a cost effective and easy solution.
Two way light switches are required for two way switching these can be identified by looking at the terminals on the back of the switch.
How to wire 2 way light switch in this video we explain how two way switching works to connect a light fitting which is controlled with two light switches.
So now that you have a basic concept of wiring a 2 way switch let s look at the following 2 way switch diagrams to see which type of circuit scenario you have.
There will be a com common terminal a l1 terminal and a l2 terminal.
A two way light switch is a simple single pole changeover switch with three terminals.
To switch from two locations youll need 2 two way switches and wire them together in a particular way.
2 gang 2 way light switch wiring diagram uk.
Say we are working on the light upstairs so we turn off the upstairs lighting circuit thinking we are safe wrong the live is picked up downstairs and there are still live conductors feeding the switch upstairs and if someone flipped the downstairs switch in this diagram that live feed would extend all the way to the lamp too you re fried.
The way i show allows you to fairly easily add a second two way switch to an existing light switch by simply wiring them together in a certain way.
For simplicity the earth wire is not shown in the above diagram.
In the other switch position it changes over so that com is connected.
There are two methods of making 2 way switching connection one is 2 wire control and another is 3 wire control.
Two way switching with the old wiring colours.
2 way light switch 3 wire system new harmonised cable colours 2 way switch 3 wire system old cable colours 2 way switch two wire control three way switching.
The next length of the twinearth cable will run from the light to the first two way switch.
In one switch position the com terminal is connected to l1.
3 way light switching new cable colours 3 way light switch old cable colours 3 way light switch using a two wire control.
The first reason this is bad is on safety grounds.
Two way switch can be operated from any of the switch independently means whatever be the position of other switch on off you can control the light with other switch.