# Two way switch



## Chocolatefrog (Feb 7, 2021)

Hi, I've got a two way light switch which works perfectly, what I would like to do is find out if it possible to take power off the second switch to install another switch to a separate light? Thanks. J


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## oscer1 (Jan 27, 2010)

not unless you have a neutral in the second light switch which most people do not have that ran to other switch box


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

In America this would be possible with a three-way switch, depending on how the second switch was wired. It would be no different than running an outlet off of a switch, which is commonly done. As someone who has worked several years doing building maintenance I don't like this practice though because the circuit breakers are rarely properly labeled regarding the change. Therefore, the outlets in the family room in the basement all end up on one circuit, except for that one over there in the corner, which is actually on the light circuit for the hallway. Work in an old Victorian-era house that slum lords have converted into apartments over the years and the fuse box might as well be a game of Battleship.


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## Chocolatefrog (Feb 7, 2021)

Hi, this is the inside of the switch that I want to run a separate light off. 






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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Chocolatefrog said:


> Hi, this is the inside of the switch that I want to run a separate light off.


It wants me to create a photo-bucket account to view it, which I'm not going to do. However I don't think I'm going to give specific electrical wiring advice over the Internet because I don't know what your local codes are. I can show you some generalized wiring diagrams but you will need to contact a local electrician to see if it's allowed and safe for you to proceed with your wiring plans.

In order to properly do what you want to do, your second two-way switch has to be wired in such a way to have both an always-live common wire and a neutral wire at the second switch. Otherwise, you would be only able to turn on your third light if your light connected to the two-way switches also was on. The problem is that these switched can be wired in several different ways and still work. Sometimes it's hard to tell just by looking at how the wires terminate how the circuit was designed, especially if the person wiring the switches didn't use standardized wire colors or labels. You would have to get out a multi-meter and do some experimentation to be sure.










Note that here you will always have a live at the second switch box but not a common live. Your live will switch between L1 and L2 depending on the position of the first switch. You can't just tie L1 and L2 together either because then your light would always be on. Therefore it would be impossible to wire a third switched light from the second box here and have it work when the first switched light was off. You may or may not even have a neutral running through the box, depending on how your wires were routed.


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## Chocolatefrog (Feb 7, 2021)

How are pics usually posted?


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Chocolatefrog said:


> How are pics usually posted?


You can use the "insert image" edit function to upload them.


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## Chocolatefrog (Feb 7, 2021)




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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Chocolatefrog said:


> View attachment 335154


I'm not even going to begin to try to figure out those UK wiring colors, especially since they switched a few years back and now a home can have both old and new-colored wiring. The only thing I can say for sure is that green and yellow wire is a ground (earth) because it's a bare wire. Like I said, it's time to call an electrician.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Just a little touch on how confusing things can be here.

ground remained yellow and green
line 1 went from red to brown
line 2 went from yellow to black
line 3 went from blue to gray
neutral went from black to blue

Cut the orange wire!


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

I looked at that box and all the different colors and decided not to comment at all!


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