Wireless Switches - whats possible in this scenario?

[richie9648]

Just need some advice on this one - i wont be doing the work myself - but wanted to understand what could be done in my situation without chasing walls etc in. I am no electrician and never do any work on electrics and sorry for any terminology that might be incorrect below

Moved into new home with a lovely kitchen diner - few months in and the lights have stopped working for some bizarre reason. The layout is this:
Kitchen area has 2 banks of 4 spots controlled by a switch on the wall and is on a 2 way relay to the switch in the living room.
A bank of 3 spots in the extension controlled by a switch in the kitchen and also on a 2 way relay to the switch in the living room.
A bank of 4 spots controlled by a switch in the living room
So in total 15 spots and 5 switches. One with a 2 switch plate in the kitchen and one with a 3 plate switch in the living room.

All seemed to work fine for a few months and last week stopped working - turning things on and a different light would come on etc etc. Got a sparky in to have a look and turns out there is some sort of neutral wire missing or the neutral has been damaged somewhere at some point but he says the wiring is a little ropy to be honest. He managed to get a bank of 4 spots working in the kitchen and it seems that the rest of the lights that are not working are missing a neutral somewhere (or just not been done properly).

His suggestion was to start chasing wall and a bit of open heart surgery !! To which we are not favouring.

i just wondered if there were any other options here - we bascially have 11 spots not working and half the extension in darkness at the moment !! - not ideal. And wondered if wireless switches recievers could be a short term fix ?

Any suggestions much appreciated

 

[default]

Just need some advice on this one - i wont be doing the work myself - but wanted to understand what could be done in my situation without chasing walls etc in. I am no electrician and never do any work on electrics and sorry for any terminology that might be incorrect below

Moved into new home with a lovely kitchen diner - few months in and the lights have stopped working for some bizarre reason. The layout is this:
Kitchen area has 2 banks of 4 spots controlled by a switch on the wall and is on a 2 way relay to the switch in the living room.
A bank of 3 spots in the extension controlled by a switch in the kitchen and also on a 2 way relay to the switch in the living room.
A bank of 4 spots controlled by a switch in the living room
So in total 15 spots and 5 switches. One with a 2 switch plate in the kitchen and one with a 3 plate switch in the living room.

All seemed to work fine for a few months and last week stopped working - turning things on and a different light would come on etc etc. Got a sparky in to have a look and turns out there is some sort of neutral wire missing or the neutral has been damaged somewhere at some point but he says the wiring is a little ropy to be honest. He managed to get a bank of 4 spots working in the kitchen and it seems that the rest of the lights that are not working are missing a neutral somewhere (or just not been done properly).

His suggestion was to start chasing wall and a bit of open heart surgery !! To which we are not favouring.

i just wondered if there were any other options here - we bascially have 11 spots not working and half the extension in darkness at the moment !! - not ideal. And wondered if wireless switches recievers could be a short term fix ?

Any suggestions much appreciated

Thats are hard one to answer without being there but if all was fine originally then I wouldn't think walls would need chasing out. It sounds like a loose connection somewhere, worse case after some proper testing you may require a floorboard lifting but I doubt it. Try another guy or two.

 

[davesparks]

If the neutral is missing from the light fittings then it probably can't be fixed with a wireless solution. Without a working live, neutral and earth neither the lights nor a wireless switch can work.

Not until wireless power transfer is available for domestic use anyway.

 

[littlespark]

When you say “a two way relay”… what do you mean?
Individual circuits of lights controlled by two switches could have been wired easily.

How ropy is “ropy” …. If it’s at all dangerous, it needs rectified

Are they special switches of some sort?


Agree, if they’ve been working fine before, it’s down to a loose connection… Cables don’t get damaged for no reason… unless you’ve had some work done on house recently which has disturbed the cable, or a rodent problem.


Any relays or other controller should be accessible for maintenance.

Just a thought…. Are the lights on different circuits? See if one of your circuit breakers has tripped.

I can’t see how one switch can suddenly start controlling a different light… unless they are RF type switches already and they’ve become unpaired somehow.

 

[default]

If the neutral is missing from the light fittings then it probably can't be fixed with a wireless solution. Without a working live, neutral and earth neither the lights nor a wireless switch can work.

Not until wireless power transfer is available for domestic use anyway.

Just need some advice on this one - i wont be doing the work myself - but wanted to understand what could be done in my situation without chasing walls etc in. I am no electrician and never do any work on electrics and sorry for any terminology that might be incorrect below

Moved into new home with a lovely kitchen diner - few months in and the lights have stopped working for some bizarre reason. The layout is this:
Kitchen area has 2 banks of 4 spots controlled by a switch on the wall and is on a 2 way relay to the switch in the living room.
A bank of 3 spots in the extension controlled by a switch in the kitchen and also on a 2 way relay to the switch in the living room.
A bank of 4 spots controlled by a switch in the living room
So in total 15 spots and 5 switches. One with a 2 switch plate in the kitchen and one with a 3 plate switch in the living room.

All seemed to work fine for a few months and last week stopped working - turning things on and a different light would come on etc etc. Got a sparky in to have a look and turns out there is some sort of neutral wire missing or the neutral has been damaged somewhere at some point but he says the wiring is a little ropy to be honest. He managed to get a bank of 4 spots working in the kitchen and it seems that the rest of the lights that are not working are missing a neutral somewhere (or just not been done properly).

His suggestion was to start chasing wall and a bit of open heart surgery !! To which we are not favouring.

i just wondered if there were any other options here - we bascially have 11 spots not working and half the extension in darkness at the moment !! - not ideal. And wondered if wireless switches recievers could be a short term fix ?

Any suggestions much appreciated

If it worked originally and a fault has occurred and its stopped working then it can be fixed. And I doubt you need to chase walls. There would still be a lot of work involved in making it wireless. If you haven't got a neutral then that needs rectifying first, once it is your probably find it all works again. Try another sparks.