Electrician help!

[Goats left knee]

Changed a one gang dimmer switch in the sitting room. 3 wires, central wire in same position as previous install and light seems to work with wires either side - don’t know why if I switch their sides it still works but I still have a problem.
my house is all fine apart from the kitchen beside the sitting room where I changed the switch.
most of it works - all sockets, tv, oven, fridge. But the microwave and two ceiling lights - dead! Not working. And all switches are up on the fuse box. Any advice

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Employ someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[manchester blue]

Are the lights LED? You need a trailing Edge dimmer if so…

 

[EnzoMCFC]

I take it you have house insurance

 

[Goats left knee]

Got it sorted. Two wires needed to go in the same hole. Cheers for all the solid advice. Lolz

 

[remember arthur mann]

Put the microwave in the living room and a couple of candles in the kitchen.

 

[asgoodasitgets]

Got it sorted. Two wires needed to go in the same hole. Cheers for all the solid advice. Lolz

Is this a euphemism ?
Asking for myself because I have no mates .

 

[Well Wisher]

Got it sorted. Two wires needed to go in the same hole. Cheers for all the solid advice. Lolz

The two wires are 'feed' and 'loop feed', hence you lost kitchen lights with them separated. All good now on that front but it's a bit concerning that your microwave wouldn't work. If a mistake has been made previously and that socket is being fed from your lighting circuit it's a bit worrying. Microwaves draw a lot of current, and lighting circuits use thinner wires which might get hot. Try turning off your lighting circuit and check to see if you also lose any sockets.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

The two wires are 'feed' and 'loop feed', hence you lost kitchen lights with them separated. All good now on that front but it's a bit concerning that your microwave wouldn't work. If a mistake has been made previously and that socket is being fed from your lighting circuit it's a bit worrying. Microwaves draw a lot of current, and lighting circuits use thinner wires which might get hot. Try turning off your lighting circuit and check to see if you also lose any sockets.

Sound advice because that sounds dodgy as f*ck. Most lighting cable is 1mm CSA, 1.5mm for longer runs. 13a sockets should be fed by 2.5mm.

Running a microwave on 1mm T&E is not recommended, and whilst the circuit (socket and lighting combined) probably won't draw enough current to trip the protection device (10, 16 or 20A maximum hopefully), but could be enough to overheat the cable and cause insulation damage which may lead to a serious fault condition.