HELP! I cant turn my lights off?

Question

ive wired new ceiling lights in my kitchen but i cant turn them off without trippin all the lights so i have to keep them on if i want other lights on. what hav i done wrong, please help cos dont want to be ripped off by an electrician

when you answer can u explain in more detail cos im not sure what u mean

Answer 1

sounds like you've wired them into the live and bypassed the switch

Answer 2

1. Buy yourself a cheap circuit tester.
2. Switch off the power at the board.
3. Disconnect all the wires from the light with the switch wire
4. Separate the ends and identify the pairs you should have 3.
( 1 in , 1 out , 1 switch)
5. Put the tested on its beep setting and connect it to a pair.
6. Try the switch if you get a beep its switch wire, if you don't try the next one.
7. Once you have the switch wires mark them.One will go to the live the other goes to the new lights.
Now this is the important bit connect the additional lights live wire into the same point as above and neutral into the in and out neutral.

Well done for trying it is a common mistake to make try drawing a diagram of what you want and have a think about how it work.

Good luck when you try the 3 way switching

Answer 3

I am a great believer that you get what you pay for and you have made a mistake.It would have been simpler to get a local electrician from the local paper.
You have connected the switch correctly but not at the light fitting.
You have wired the loop feed to all the other lights onto the switchline so that when you switch the lights off all the lights go off.
Change the connections at the light so they switch independently.

The other reason could be that you are shorting the phase to neutral when you operate the switch.
Call that local electrician

added 21/02/2007
Not sure if this is a uk or usa question but my answer is relevant to both.
Just WHO is giving thumbs down to so many legitimate answers?

Answer 4

Prolly already felt the bite I'm sure, but when you get electrocuted there is a good chance you will wake up in the hospital, you prolly won't remember anything, you'll definitely know what being electrocuted feels like though.

Its more than a bite, the electricity could literally enter your body leaving an entrance wound and exit your body leaving a gaping hole that will heal only after an extreamly long time. If wearing jewlery, a watch, glasses, or braces. Then at those places too you will see and feel just how wicked a good current flowing threw you can be.

And that is if you wake up, because there is also a good possibility you may not. And then you will not feel anything ever again, atleast not in this dimension because you will be dead.

But only then, after such a thing happens will you respect electricity and the priviledge Electricians give you by harnessing its power.

So what exactly does it feel like to be ripped off?

Answer 5

DO NOT FIT A LARGER MAIN BREAKER.
THEY ARE 5 6 OR 10 AMP FOR A REASON.
Unless you can work out why, don't putting a 15 amp.
That advise is free. Hope i didn't rip you off.

I spent years of training, in electrical principles, safety good practise. I supply all my own tools van petrol, over £1500 of testers. My time away from my family. This is so people don't get hurt or die, from shock or fire.
Normally i would answer your question. But this time I'll let you have the last words i always tend to put.

"As your knowledge is very limited, i would suggest getting in a professional electrician. Good luck"

Answer 6

no-one likes to be ripped off but this is one time you have to bite the bullet get a qualified electrician in and you should know never play with electrics if you have no knowledge of the way electric works ! you could have caused anything to become live and that is fatal in some cases. I personally think you have by-passed the switch but i am not qualified to actually say what you have done or even make a correction Don't forget a professional// and the bill is secondary to your life

Answer 7

I hate to tell you but you have ballsed up a very simple job and should not proceed any further until you have done an apprenticeship as an electrician. A lot of your answers are very good but you don't seem to know the basics and it is not something that can be explained in this forum for as one guy says everything is different. i am not a believer in that people should not do their own electrics but in your case please call it a day and call somone in or get a very good book on house wiring and follow it to the letter. This is a UK answer

Answer 8

Ok, the spelling issue, if you want good answers, you should use spellcheck! The answers from Master Electricians who got all the thumbs down are CORRECT! there are two or three wires to the ceiling fixture. For switched/unswitched. So you can turn off the light and still operate a fan. one hot, one neutral, or, one hot switched, one hot and one neutral. Use the switched hot and the neutral. read the directions. If someone before you screwed the wiring up, and it doesn't make sense, call or befriend, an electrician. A handyman could do this though, to save money. If you don't know what 2 phase means, you are out of your realm, my friend. It can kill you...

Answer 9

Without examining the circuit you have put together it would be a wise man who could comment. You must be aware that it is now an offence to carry out electrical work if you are not a qualified electrician. If you work can be shown to cause an accident or injury to a person or damage to their property (and that includes a house which is mortgaged) you will be liable. Save yourself possible expense in the future and get the help of a qualified electrician now.

Answer 10

Go to Gilchrists website for help. It should be required reading for all you JACKLEGS who think you know how to wire something.

I have been an electrical contractor for many years, and i don't recall ever ripping someone off. But i sure as hell have been ripped off by homeowners who won't pay. And its always the rich ones who try to screw us. I'm sure brother Gilchrist will concur.

So, i won't even try answering your question. But heres a word of advice...when you or a family member is laying on the floor after a nasty shock, or you wake up @ 3 AM smelling something burning, remember that by GOD, u didn't get ripped of by an electrician...2 wire hook em up...3wire f*** em up...4 wire blow em up..

Answer 11

examine to confirm if the dimmer swap is under pressure properly. seem for a similar make as your latest one at a keep and reproduction the wiring diagram. Are there different wires, besides the dedicated wires from the swap, that connect with the sunshine? if so you have comments from those wires. that's no longer risk-free. discover the place they bypass and rewire so which you haven't any longer any comments. Is the swap made in China? that ought to be your problem staggering there.