Electrical installation problem?

[LaBarreMarch]

Hello everybody
I will need some advice on electricity.
I have just moved into an apartment where it seems to me that the electricity has been a little "hastily" (well I think, I don't know much about it in fact). For example, to turn on the light on the mezzanine, the first floor light must be on, ...
So I would like to try to improve this, but I don't really know how to go about it.
Indeed, how to know in what "order" was made the loop, knowing that it is composed of 4 light points and 5 switches. Is there a way to do it?
on the other hand I dismantled the sockets to see how the installation was done and I counted a total of 7 different wire colors (red, blue, yellow-glass for the mass, purple, black, beige and orange) , is this normal ???

thank you all.
jerem

[I Citro]

Hello and welcome.

Ce forum is not a specialized place for these questions but I will try to direct you a little ...

It is difficult to make a diagnosis by correspondence ...

I'm just going to give you a methodology.
Maybe others will add stones to my speech.

You need paper, a pencil, a multimeter or at worst a homemade tester with a battery and a bulb, one or more crocodile clips to connect to the measurement points.
1 very long electric wire allowing to connect the most distant socket or switch that you want to test.

1 / You cut the meter.
2 / You dismantle all the intersections and all the sockets that you wish to analyze and for each you identify how they are connected to your paper (position and color of the wires). in general I create an array and a code which I assign to each wire of each socket / inter.
3 / I search with my tester which wires are connected to each other. For this it is imperative to dismantle all the wires from all the inters.
4 / I fill in my table: A1 connected B2 etc.
5 / When I think I have tested everything, including the neutral, I turn on the power and CAREFULLY look for the phases.
6 / I cross the current and analyze my beautiful paintings.
7 / I reconstruct the operating diagram and reconnect everything properly.

This was the case with me when I moved in, I had to and fro that did not work properly because they were badly connected. I think the problem occurred during a change of tapestry ... They must have crashed on reassembly ...
[/ List]

[furbizz]

Hello,

your electrical installation looks dubious!

There are color codes to respect. The neutral is always blue, and the earth Green / Yellow. To know the installation standards, you must comply with standard NF-C 15100 (CSTB website).
After following the citro method, you can try to bring it up to standard. Even if the colors do not match, the threads may have been passed correctly.
To normalize, you can put colored electrical tape or heat shrink tubing (more expensive).

The ideal is to have several circuits per room: one for the light, one for the sockets, etc. one is required for each specific use such as refrigerator, boiler, etc.
If you have an email, I can send you a summary that takes up a few pages.
Respect the wire cross-sections: 1.5 square for 10A, 2.5 for 20A, 4 for 25A, 6 for 32A, etc.
A maximum of 6 outlets per outlet circuit is required (in 2.5 square).
For your attic, you should draw a direct line to the board: 1.5 for the light, 2.5 for the sockets.

Good luck.

[Other]

Hello

You should tell us in which country you live
because the colors are different

In America the neutral is white, the living phase is black
ground is green or bare wire
for lighting it is a black wire and a white with a bare earth wire
the circuits are 15 amperes for file No 14
For heating it is a black file and a red file the earth a bare wire in a red sheath Normally No12 good for 20amps

Useless that I debite the rules of the code that would surprise me according to the colors that it is in America.

In your case you first analyze what you want, which switch to do what? , if you want to come and go ect .. then you ring your sons and you examine what you can do with the existing lines
if you are missing lines you will have to draw new lines
This is probably why the assembly is non-standard.
but it is abnormal to be forced to turn on two switches to turn on a lamp (one goes and comes to connect badly)

Andre

[LaBarreMarch]

Thank you very much for all of your responses !

I will test the Citro method in the week and I will keep you posted. I feel like I'm going to have a hard time, it's going to be long !!!!

FYI live in France, in Bordeaux to be precise.

[PITMIX]

Hello
To put it simply, if you have several switches for the same light you need a back and forth, up to two switches maximum. And for more you need a remote control switch with push buttons.
A back and forth at three terminals.
You can never solve your problem using two toggle switches and two terminals.
A rocker switch with 2 terminals for one or more lights ok.
Two 3-terminal rocker switches for one or more lights ok.
As many push buttons as you want for one or more lights ok.
Since you have several colors of wire, mark all the colors on each switch and look carefully at the number of terminals on each switch.
So you will know if this or that inter is connected with another.


http://www.va-et-vient.com/

[I Citro]

Thank you very much for all of your responses !

I will test the Citro method in the week and I will keep you posted. I feel like I'm going to have a hard time, it's going to be long !!!!

FYI live in France, in Bordeaux to be precise.

in Bordeaux ! We are starting to be a few in this corner, you should have specified it in your profile.
Do you live in a shop, a house, an apartment?

[furbizz]

Hello,

you can put 3 switches on a back and forth. Very practical for a bedroom. The solution is to put an inverter between the two inters.

[LaBarreMarch]

Arrow in Bordeaux! We are starting to be a few in this corner, you should have specified it in your profile. Confused
Do you live in a shop, a house, an apartment?
Razz

I live in an old apartment in the city center of Bordeaux (victory to be precise).

otherwise I have another question. I don't have a power outlet in my bathroom, which seems a bit annoying for madam (hair dryer, ...). Is it possible to install an outlet and connect it to an existing circuit or does it have to be a clean circuit?

[LaBarreMarch]

I just discovered another bizard thing! Behind a hanging that I had not removed since I moved in, I discovered a switch that turns on ... nothing at all ... Yet I tested with the multimeter and there is a lot of current flowing. ... strange this apartment anyway !!