Noob electrical question here - I want to add a light timer to our college workshop main lights.
there is an existing 2 light switch box on the wall.
switch 1 (sw1) is for a florescent light - the tubes are blown and at a height of 10m we can’t replace them and switch 2 (sw2) is for the work shop large dome shaped factory down lighters.
would it be possible to use the power from sw1 to power the light timer to switch sw2? assuming there is continues power on the live wire?
Why would you want to use power from sw1 if there is power on sw2?
Unless what you are asking is if you can power a timer by the neutral running through the ballast on sw1 when it is off - if that is the case then the answer is obviously no.
You can use the sw1 switch to switch anything you want, including a timer as long as the current draw of that is within limits of the switch.
But that is just a switch. Most will just break the live wire of the device while neutral is hard wired to the device and either not running through the switch box, or if you are lucky it is running through the switch box as well. If the latest, then you would have both live and neutral that you can use to power something (like starting a timer device).