Live/ Neutral

oheilis

Trying to replace a regular switch with a dimmer. Can anyone confirm for definite which is live and which is neutral in this photo?

I'm guess the one going into 1 way is the neutral, as that end has potential slot for a loop, plus the plastic has minus on the same half with a kind of plus sign on the top.

TheBody

oheilis wrote: »

Trying to replace a regular switch with a dimmer. Can anyone confirm for definite which is live and which is neutral in this photo?

Provided it was wired correctly in the first place, the top wire in the "common" is the live as you called it. The bottom wire is the switch wire....the one that's going up to the light fitting.

Robbie.G

oheilis wrote: »

Trying to replace a regular switch with a dimmer. Can anyone confirm for definite which is live and which is neutral in this photo?

I'm guess the one going into 1 way is the neutral, as that end has potential slot for a loop, plus the plastic has minus on the same half with a kind of plus sign on the top.

There is no neutral at that switch
Wire to top of switch is com
Wire at bottom is L1
But as it is just a switch it doesn't matter which way they go

ted1

There's no neutral, a switch just breaks the live wire. One side is always on. , the other side only comes on when the switch is on. Before you do anything make sure the power is off to the switch.

Andrew_Doran

I suspect it's probably plastic but be aware that if your new dimmer has a metal face plate it will also need to be earthed.

johnwest288

Can i ask a wee question here? Can you just remove the top/lid of the old plastic standard on off switch and stick on the dimmer switch or must you take out the back side of the switch too (back box) that is housed inside the wall.
Is it a direct swap or have dimmer switches to have a different larger back piece? Pic of what i mean

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=5&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=6&gs_id=m&xhr=t&q=dimmer+switch&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43287494,d.ZG4&biw=1024&bih=653&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=NSw3Ud64I8feOdOVgNAC#um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=dimmer+switch+back+box&oq=dimmer+switch+back&gs_l=img.3.0.0i24.37310.37987.0.39096.5.4.0.1.1.0.218.557.1j2j1.4.0...0.0...1c.1.5.img.PV-DrhEUls0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43287494,d.d2k&fp=bb2415197313add1&biw=1024&bih=653&imgrc=O7StiiWbp8UVYM%3A%3BueyG-H0fp9Pk2M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.thehomedr.com%252Fimages%252Felectricalimages%252Fdimmer4300.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.thehomedr.com%252Felectrical_dimmer.htm%3B300%3B300

oheilis

I didn't need to replace the back box anyway when I changed the switch over.