MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I have an old cottage that has a surface mounted dimmer switch (a pattress??) serving the ceiling light in the lounge. We had some builders in who broke the bulb and fitted a non dimmable bulb in the light which just flashed and then popped the internals of the switch (I think)
Will all normal sized light switch face plates fit a pattress or do I need a certain type of faceplate, or a whole new backbox and faceplate?. I plan to do away with the dimmer.
Probably really obvious, but I'm fed up of buying things and finding they don't fit. Thanks.
standard faceplate will be fine. There is probably only two wires connected to the dimmer. If you get a 1 gang 2 way switch it will have a COM terminal, an L1 and an L2. Red or brown into COM and Black or Blue into L1.
Any problems post up and we'll sort it.
Rich.
I'd be very wary of trusting "wire colour" as any guarantee of anything in an old cottage.
Yes, as Cougar says, be wary of colours. Will probably be red/black in an old cottage but if not that or brown/blue then post us a picture.
I'd be very wary of trusting "wire colour" as any guarantee of anything in an old cottage.
Just make a note of what colours are in which terminal on the old switch.Then copy that.
If it isn't simple take a picture before you take any wires out of the old switch.
Just make a note of what colours are in which terminal on the old switch.Then copy that.
This +1, just photograph everything.
There's a few in our flat that had the red and black wires twisted together, and one where the neutral was wired to the earth..........
At that point I gave up and assumed that anything I did was probably more competent than the person who originally did it.
Thanks folks. The wiring is reasonable recent, before I moved in, not archaic, everything has an earth wire for example. Any problems I'll post up. Thanks for confirming the faceplate thing. 🙂