Hi all

A very simple question...

I have just purchased a small switch that is normally added to a table top light, in order to avoid having to turn it off at the wall.

I want to place this on the wire on some bog standard Christmas lights I have purchased for exactly the same reason, as the wall socket is quite inaccessible.

The switch looks very much like this: t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRcilig...q_L6mU0EBBlvlaZrdRbw

My switch states bs standard "BS EN 61058-2-1"
and "6[3]A 250v~"


Thanks for your input

Sorry, so my question is; is there any possible problem with doing this due to the very thin cables on the christmas lights or any other reason I cant think of off the top of my head.

Table 52.3 - Minimum cross-sectional area of conductors from BS7671:2008 gives the minimum as 0.75 mm sq which should not be a problem. Often the cable is gripped by winding it between posts in the switch and also often the neutral is not cut and one has to be careful stripping the cable to only cut the line wire. But I see no problem in using those switches.

Hi ericmark, thanks so much for your answer.

I'm a bit of a novice with these things... I see what your saying about not cutting the neutral, although in this case the cable is impossible to identify which is which I think due to the thin generic cable type used.

So its quite ok to just do both passing through the switch isnt it?


Thanks

In this country we are not allowed to switch the neutral and neither are we allowed to use reversible plugs so common in rest of Europe. It will of course work OK even if you did cut neutral instead of line but it would not be safe to work on.

What you have to consider will anyone try to change bulbs without unplugging? If they did and one broke then they could get a nasty shock.

I used a remote from Lidi which although I didn't want the function will also dim the lights. Both Aldi and Lidi do the remotes from time to time mine has one remote unit and 4 slaves two plane on/off and 2 with dimmers built in.

is there any way i can work out which neutral is though if the cable doesnt appear to indicate?

If both are same colour then hard. If you have a voltage stick www.voltstick.co.uk/product_voltstick_230Y.htm then yes you can work out which is line before you cut the cable. Found on ebay compare.ebay.co.uk/like/400099496552?var...emTypes&var=sbar £10:85 but at £18 for radio remotes is it worth it?

ok thanks, thats great to know. I will look into one of these two solutions.


Thanks so much!

You may find a wall tester will also do job even a neon screwdriver may light but the volt stick is the tool for job. You could cut the cable and take a chance. Then ring out with meter if wrong one then swap wires at plug.

Depends if you already have a meter?

I think im going to buy that non contact meter as im sure ill use it again and ive already purchased the switch.

IR is lovely idea but a bit luxury for this I think.

Yes mine moves around a bit. Video recorder is main use. Also two standard lamps. But this time of year transferred to tree lights.

typical... studying the inside of this switch it becomes apparent that there is no space to place the uncut cable around the inside. in other words, i have to cut the cable for it to pass through the internals of the switch.

looking at its mechanism its clear that it is cutting the neutral wire as well. why would it do this if its recommended you dont cut it?

theres a 3rd channel to wise the ground through. now this cable has no ground wire. that channel in the switch is not cut by the switch mechanism. do you think i should wire the neutral through that?

If a two pole switch then no problem cut neutral. Most are not two pole.

Best way to find the neutral they used is un-screw the plug and see which wire is in the neutral terminal.

Then take that wire out and mark that wire with blue or black pvc tape.
Then take out the wire in the live terminal and mark it with brown or red pvc tape.
Then you'll know.
Then you can make the switch.
After that re-attach the plug.