When repairing or replacing electricians in a house, you need to know how to connect a circuit breaker and clarify circuit design options. The latter are designed for one mode of operation when a single lamp is used in the lamp. With complex switching, first draw a drawing and mark the installation locations of the devices, then proceed to work to avoid errors.
Preparation for work
You need to figure out how to connect the switch before starting the installation of electrical equipment. When replacing an old similar contactor, the task is simpler, only before that the input circuit breaker should be turned off. The process of dismantling the old and installing a new one is carried out in exact accordance with the existing exceptions.
How to connect the switch if it is necessary to install additional equipment (outlet or additional light control point)? Here you can not do without basic knowledge of electrical engineering. You need to understand where the "phase" is, and where is the "zero".
Marking on the wires must be applied by all electricians. If they did not, you will have to do it yourself. You will need a multimeter, confidence in your knowledge and skills to install wires.
What will be needed for installation?
How to connect a switch without a screwdriver? We get a cross, terminal, flat 4 mm. If we are going to carry out exceptions by the method of twisting, then we need to take electric nippers.
High-quality installation is carried out by self-clamping terminal blocks, lugs are put on wires. You can buy them at an electrician's store. You need a special crimp, instead of it you can use ordinary pliers, but it will be of poor quality.
The twists are closed with electrical tape or heat shrink, which are also available in electrical stores. They will also tell you how to connect a switch. You can even ask to sketch a diagram. However, in case of self-doubt, it is better to contact professional installers.
Determining the right machine
How to connect the wires to the switch, you can see on the already installed. It is enough to remove the top cover and measure the voltage relative to the ground contact, there will be potential on one of the wires - this is the "phase". But it is worth remembering: electricians can fail 2 wires of "zero".
To determine the machine or fuse, you need to turn on the light and “snap off” one at a time until it goes out. If this is a new installation, then carry out the procedure until the phase voltage disappears. When it is possible to turn off the entire power supply, you can not complicate the process and do it.
So that by chance someone does not turn on the light while installation work is being carried out, you need to hang a prohibitive poster on the feed machine. It is dangerous both an electric shock and the fact that after a shock a person can fall and get injured (head, torso). A simple procedure for replacing a circuit breaker without safety precautions will turn into a long sick leave.
Installation from scratch
To install the switch correctly, you should buy:
- a box for wires installed in a wall niche;
- conductors are led into a protected distributor, to which they leave access in case of problems (they hide it maximum under a thin layer of plaster, marking the location);
- shrinkage corresponding to the diameter of the wire is heated by an open flame;
- lugs are also selected according to the diameter of the conductor; soldering joints is ideal, but this is a laborious and lengthy process;
- the switch is selected with reliable contacts: threaded or clamped;
- you may need to use a protective corrugation to lay wires in the prepared channels of the wall.
The switch is mounted in a niche. For outdoor installation, it must have a closed case of non-conductive material. Such models are sold in finished form. Under the feet of a person there should not be a metal stage to exclude electric shock from poor-quality installation of the switch. This question is most relevant in industrial premises.
What should not be done?
It is important not only to know how to connect the switch correctly, but also to foresee installation errors. Never use ground instead of neutral wire. The lamp will burn, but this will lead to a distortion of the total load of the whole house. Then, when there will be too many such connections, the electricians of the service company are tormented to look for the cause of the constantly knocking-out input machine.
It is not recommended to bolt the wires in an inaccessible place. After a year or two, these contacts should be extended. Leaving bare sections of wires can only be pre-insulated. Twists are also subject to soldering and isolation. Left metal parts may close in the future.
It is not recommended to work when the voltage is not removed. It is impossible to leave the wires open during the repair for a day or more, to connect power equipment not belonging to the lighting from the wire, to take power by the circuit breaker.
Mounting Methods
A single switch is connected to the gap of the supply wire. But there are complex contactors designed to turn on in one place and turn off in another. It is very convenient when lighting corridors, stairs, storage rooms, where there are several exits.
Let's learn how to connect a passage switch. The picture shows the wiring diagram, where you can see - the contact can be switched off and on from any side. In any position, one switch controls the light. Approaching the stairs, a man lights a lamp and, rising, extinguishes it already upstairs. Another can already light the room at least from above, even from below.
The advantage of the circuit for the switch through passage is the ease of installation. But extra cable meters will be required compared to a single switch. The lamp can be one, directly above the stairs. Recently, circuit breakers have been installed, but the power button is also required 2. An analogue can be a motion sensor that works when any object approaches it.
Ramified installation
Sometimes there are problems in the question of how to connect two switches. After all, one has only one wire used to break. When a chandelier with several lamps is used, then its zero wires are combined inside the ceiling into one neutral one. The phases are divided and go through contactors.
But how to connect a double switch if we have two incoming wires? The phase clings to one contact and one end of the jumper is taken from here. The second is placed on the next key. Neutral output, as a rule, one on both keys, contact isolation is made inside the plastic case.
Be sure to determine the phase wire before connecting. This can be done with an indicator screwdriver. The LED is on, there is voltage. Often the screwdriver also shows the presence of potential on the second, but the diode is already burning weaker. This is the reason for the incorrect wiring in the electrical panel.
To understand it was easier with the question of how to connect a two-gang switch, the standard wire colors are used: red - phase, black - neutral. However, the labeling may vary in each room. When connecting the lamp holder, the supply conductor must go in the center.
Installation Rules
The lead wire to the switch must be thicker than those connected to the cartridges. In the chandelier, the conductors are used even thinner, so the potential uniformity is maintained. When using energy-saving lamps, it is recommended that the circuit of sockets and switches be separated by fuses.
The same rule works when installing LED lamps. Often, LEDs are used in switches. Luminescent lamps do not always work with them correctly, they begin to blink. Here it is better to remove the photodiode circuit.
Clamp the wire to a length of more than 5 mm. Short may eventually fall out of the circuit breaker or during the next disassembly. The thickness of the wire is selected according to the design load. Otherwise, the wiring will warm up and serve for a short time.