Guidance Needed For Wiring on a 2 way switch

[HallGreenUk]

Hi all,

Firstly thanks for reading. As a background my electrical knowledge is basic (I can change a light switch but not much more).

Normally when I change a switch I take pictures of how it is and then replicate the layout with the new switch.

My old man has a two way light switch to his attic. The light when you enter the attic is a typical basic switch which controls the light. At the top of the stairs is a light pull cord which also can control the same light. My old man broke the light rip cord and then tried replacing the entire light pull cord.

Only problem is he has no idea how it was wired before he took it apart. The wires that were in the old light pull cord were 3 red wires and yellow/green wire. The old pull cord has L1, L2 and COMs. I know the yellow/green wire is earth and where it goes. The issue is where the 3 red wires go? Any advice welcomed.

[Someone-Else]

Trial and error.
One wire goes into each terminal.
How do you expect anyone to know which wire goes where if we did not wire it? There really is no colour code for 2 way switching, and as they are all red......

[HallGreenUk]

Thanks mate. I was going to do trial and error. Just want to make sure I won't short the fuse if I did so. Like I said my knowledge is very basic

[wine~o]

Thanks mate. I was going to do trial and error. Just want to make sure I won't short the fuse if I did so. Like I said my knowledge is very basic

You have probably sorted this by now, just thought I would let you know that you can't short that as you are only dealing with live and switched lives, shorts occur when live and neutral meet.

[ericmark]

two-way-real.jpg (32.97 KiB) Viewed 1172 times

This is the normal wiring for a two way switch, the wire that matters is the com wire, that has to be right, the other two can be swapped and it still works, so only 3 options, you have 33% chance of getting it right first time.