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I'm trying to put a light and a dimmer switch together for use in a chicken brooder. I have the switch and porcelain light socket but am a bit confused on the wiring diagram. My diagram looks exactly like the one found here

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Basically I have a cord with a plug on one end and want to cut it in half, put both ends into opposite sides of a surface mount electrical box and have one side go to the wall (plug end) and the other go to the light fixture. From that diagram I only see two wires coming in from outside the switch but I'll have 4, not counting the ground wires which I also want to use and don't know where to put. Additionally, there are two wires coming from the dimmer mechanism but they show clearly going to 'loop' and 'c'. So if someone could fill in the blanks below I'd be grateful!

Plug-brown? (Loop, C, 1, or 2)

Plug- blue? (Loop, C, 1, or 2)

Plug-ground? (Loop, C, 1, or 2)

Light-brown? (Loop, C, 1, or 2)

Light-blue? (Loop, C, 1, or 2)

Light-ground? (Loop, C, 1, or 2)

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  • Where in the world are you located & I only see one diagram there, no page 6...
    – Aaron
    Mar 22, 2013 at 5:07
  • Can you post a URL to some kind of data sheet or user manual for this dimming assembly?
    – Kaz
    Mar 22, 2013 at 9:23

1 Answer 1

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From the diagram it looks like the dimming assembly is simply in series with the load, on the hot side.

Yes, if you have two conductor cord, and you cut it, then you have four wire ends. The dimmer would be spliced into the hot wire, and the other one would have to be spliced back together. It would make sense to just cut one conductor in the cord. Leave one intact. The intact one is your N to Load line, and the one you cut gives you the other two pieces: A to dimmer, dimmer to load.

What to do with ground wires? You have two devices: dimmer and load (light socket). If the dimmer has a metal chassis, you can ground that. Follow manufacturer's instructions!

The light receptacle is porcelain, so don't bother.

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  • Thanks Kaz but could you just fill in the question marks I have above? I still find your explanation a bit confusing. And the cable has 3 wires, as above.
    – Kent Sparks
    Mar 22, 2013 at 9:32
  • Okay, right, so the third wire is ground.
    – Kaz
    Mar 22, 2013 at 9:35
  • What does the dashed box represent in your diagram. Is that a ready-made part, or is that just your junction box?
    – Kaz
    Mar 22, 2013 at 9:37
  • That is just the outline of the front of the plate. Is it possible to just fill in the ?'s ?
    – Kent Sparks
    Mar 22, 2013 at 9:41
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    Whichever wire connects to the hot prong of the plug would be cut. The plug-side of the cut would be attached to 1, and then the loads-side would attach to the loop terminal, from where it continues to the light. Whichever wire is neutral can go straight from the plug to the light, without being cut. The ground wire can be used to ground any metal enclosures, as recommended by the accompanying literature for the devices (switch and dimmer). Nothing like that is shown in your diagram. The piece of ground wire going out to the light won't do anything.
    – Kaz
    Mar 22, 2013 at 9:53

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