Questions tagged [neutral]
For questions relating to the neutral wire, or "grounded conductor" as it's sometimes called. The neutral, or "grounded conductor" in NEC, is the normal return path for electricity in a household AC circuit.
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How to check if my outlet's Ground and Neutral is wrongly mixed up or correct?
When we moved to a new house I noticed a strangely wired up outlet:
For this outlet, I am really suspicious whether the grounding is messed up and mixed up with the Neutral.
Normally Neutral and the ...
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Living room light, bedroom and AC switch are not working. I checked both switch, both have power coming in also the neutral. Lost of neutral
It was a generator
Well I checked the distribution board for power which was there in all the breakers. The neutral had light in it when tasted with a tester so I left to check the wire for the light, ...
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Can neutrals be landed in an old panel which acts as a junction box?
I have a metered panel which had been stripped down and wires jumped over to new panel. The feed is still here but also jumped over. Can I land my neutrals from the new panel inside of the old main ...
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Identifying neutral wire in switch box
I have a two-switch junction box where the switch on the left is a 6-way switch and the switch on the right is a 3-way. I'd like to swap the 3-way switch out for a Lutron smart switch and require a ...
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Figure out which neutral to use
I have these two switches in the same box, that I want to replace with smart switches. That sit on two different breakers, so I assume, I cannot use the same neutral for both. However, right now, both ...
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Can I wire an outlet off of this switch?
I have a three way switch that I would like to wire a regular wall outlet off of. The wall outlet would be wired off of the switch in picture #2. The black wire in picture 2 has constant 120V to it. ...
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No neutral wire in outlets
So I'm trying to install a smart light switch with a neutral wire. Since the switch is next to a socket, I told myself I could take a neutral wire from there...
Opened the light switch and socket and ...
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How to I add new light switch with ground wire/screw if old switch had no ground screw?
I have an old light switch that I want to upgrade. The old switch does not have a ground screw (see second image) so the bare copper ground wire is just tied to the metal box with a screw (see "B&...
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Alternative GFCI Wiring in Strict 240V Scenario?
I have a strict 240V wiring situation (i.e., two hots + ground, no neutral) with a hot tub as the only load on the circuit. Now, I think it’s very prudent (and generally mandated) to have a local ...
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Voltage on disconnected neutral wire of GFCI outlet
I’m changing the switches around the house and some of the boxes are mixed light switch / GFCI outlet. After turning off the power, opening one of the boxes and pulling out the switches and outlet, I ...
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Open Neutral, circuit not connected at the panel and too may receptacles on one circuit
Beginner here, I am trying to figure out as much as I can before I call in an electrician.
I have a receptacle in my breakfast area showing open neutral. I turned off the power and checked all other ...
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Why are there so many neutral wires in light switch and how do they work with a smart dimmer light switch?
I am having difficulty installing a smart dimmer light switch.
I have 3 switches, 2 switches are on one breaker and one is on the other breaker. The problem I believe has something to do with the ...
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Lights flickering
I have a off grid solar system with 110-120v pure sine inverter. All my outlets work with power but GFCI blinks red every min or so and my all my LED lights flicker when on. I feel like I'm not ...
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3 hot wires one neutral gfci
I want to install a GFCI outlet into my laundry room because this house is old and has no ground. The outlet in the laundry has 3 hot conductors and one neutral with no ground. Can I wire the 3 hot ...
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Can I install a new 120v circuit in this panel as configured?
I believe I found the answer. I was able to track down the now retired electrician who did the work. I have two meters on the main electric company service box. This box comes INSTALLED with ...
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No neutral at electric meter
I'm runing power to a barn. I'm getting the power from my electric meter that powers the whole property. I ran conduit underground from meter pole to to a breaker box I installed in the barn. I ran 3 ...
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2 gang switch in bathroom, replacing exact switch with timer -- question on neutral
I have a bathroom with a switch for a fan, and another switch for a light. I replaced the light switch with a decora switch. For the fan, I'm using a smarter switch that has buttons for setting the on-...
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Microwave on A leg causes B leg voltage to increase, neutral issue, but how to diagnose?
I'm having an issue with flickering LEDs, the PoCo came out and upgraded my service with a brand new transformer and wiring, they did a power survey before and after and said their side is good now. ...
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Dimmer without neutral?
I live in an old but gut renovated apartment. There is a ceiling light fixture (LED based) in the living room. It is controlled by two-way switches. I want to add a dimmer to control the light. The ...
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Where to retrofit bond of ground to neutral (same service to multiple buildings)
I had a well pump installed and in the process discovered the significance of tying all metal surfaces together by EGCs to provide a path back to neutral.
Diagram is attached for reference.
The ...
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Why are there three sets of wires for two switches, and how to wire up the neutral?
Background
I have two light switches that I am planning on replacing with smart switches.
As the diagram below shows, there are three "collections" of wires coming out of the wall, where ...
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What does it mean if the electric is out in a room, but the breaker is not tripped?
Earlier today I noticed a light go out, and of course everything else that was in the room went off as well. I went to the breaker box to check and see if the one for that room had tripped, but it had ...
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Wiring Diagram for Connecting two 100A sub panels to a 200A main panel
I have an outdoor 200A meter/panel combo box (Eaton MBX816B200BTS). Currently, I have 100A going to my house. I would like to add an additional 100A circuit at the meter panel to provide electricity ...
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3-way smart-switch installation: How do I re-claim the white (currently) traveler to be a neutral?
I'm trying to upgrade some light switches to smart switches that require neutral wires. I did a couple single pole switches months ago which, with some trial and error, worked fine. I'm stuck on at ...
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Does it mean that I have a bad service neutral when putting load on one of the legs, causes voltage fluctuation at the mains?
I've noticed that when I turn on a microwave on one of my circuits, there is a 10-13VAC drop on that circuit and unrelated circuits on the other leg experience a rise of 10-13VAC.
I was trying to ...
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Open neutral wire at the breaker panel
We just moved into our house and the previous owner remodeled the master bathroom. There is a GFCI outlet in the master bathroom and it was ungrounded and I took it out and discovered that the ground ...
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Can I connect two neutral wires from a Single pole switch and a 3 way switch to a set of neutral wires as shown in the picture?
I am replacing these two switches with smart switches (Brand:Kasa). One of the smart switch is Single pole another is a 3-way switch. Both switches will need their neutral wires to be connected. My ...
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Which is the live, neutral and earth wire?
Currently doing a small renovation and replacing all the lights around the house. I have just dismantled the previous lighting, and trying to figure out which one is the live, neutral and earth.
The ...
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When installing a smart switch, can I pigtail off of the neutral from the existent outlet in the same box on the same circuit?
I have a box with a double receptacle and a switch where the switch powers an exterior outlet on the other side of the wall. In the photos below, the orange is the switched hot for that outlet. All ...
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When running a bigger wire to deal with voltage drop on a 240V circuit, do I now need to run a neutral as well?
I am running wire for a 240 V, 20 A split-system AC over a hundred feet and the voltage drops below the allowed NEC 5% voltage drop.
So I have to step down the a wire a gauge and run a #10 wire which ...
Samuel Lee
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Wifi light switch
I want to install a wifi light switch. It has a line, load, neutral and ground posts. Original switch is 14/2 with White, black, ground. Can this wifi switch be wired into this configuration? Thanks.
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Can I make a new ground pipe at an outdoor appliance instead of running a separate ground wire?
I have two legs of my 240 V appliance and the neutral wire, but no ground wire available, but plenty of room for burying a ground pipe and strap. Can I just drive another ground pipe at the location ...
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Full neutral bar on GE PowerMark load center; what to do?
I have an older GE PowerMark Load Center, circa 1987. It is the same panel being discussed here - this post has good pics of the panel and markings. (GE Powermark Electrical Panel - What Did the Last ...
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Running neutral wire between two circuits
I am installing a smart 3-way light switch which requires a neutral at both switches. One of them has the neutral, the other does not. But...I was able to pretty easily run a neutral from the bedroom ...
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Using smart switch to control GFCI outlet
I have a bunch of outdoor outlets which are all connected to a single GFCI and controlled by a standard light switch inside the house.
I recently replaced the standard light switch with a lutron ...
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Installing two smart Alexa powered switches
I am installing two new smart Eaton WFSW15-C2 smart switches. I have a new house, so it has the neutral wires required for a switch that requires the four wires. The two I am replacing are standard ...
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Is this the correct action to fix a "smart" switch whose neutral and ground wires are tied together?
I went to replace a GE 15086 Timer switch with a Leviton DH15S. The box it's going into contains 2 of the 15086 switches and one mechanical single pole switch. When I opened it up, I saw only black (...
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I found an old earth ground with #12 wire, should it be changed after a service upgrade?
About 10 years ago we had a new meter-main installed upgrading to 200A service from 100A at a new service entrance location (closer to the street) for a 1951 daylight ranch house. At the time they ...
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Do I have neutral wires here?
I'm trying to install a Brilliant smart switch and it requires a neutral. This particular circuit has two boxes on it, the switch in the picture, as well as a powder room light switch on the other ...
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older wiring, neutral wire voltage spike (and lamp flickering) when turning on/off white-noise machine
I'm debugging an issue with flickering lights in a house with older wiring (1950s, braided sheath, two wire, no grounding).
I have a lamp with a solid state switch (touch lamp) and LED bulb inserted. ...
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Two Neutral Wires on Light Switch
I want to install an in-wall lighting timer for my front outdoor lights, replacing an existing light switch. I turned off the breaker to the switch I wish to replace and I've determined which black ...
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Help diagnose potential open neutral (80v and 150v!)
My house has 2 main connections (240v). It has 2 meters for each connection. It's a multi-wire (shared neutral) setup, I think. The house used to be two houses joined into one, with 4 circuit breakers ...
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Can neutrals be tied together on different circuits? [duplicate]
I have a 2-gang switch panel, controlling 2 sets of lights. One switch is a normal switch, the other is a 3-way switch. Each switch is controlled by a different breaker.
I found that the neutrals are ...
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What does "can't mix neutrals" mean, and how would neutrals get mixed?
Electrician told me a problem I was having was caused by a new arc fault breaker they installed.
I was told you, "can't mix neutrals"
Can you describe what that means? How would these ...
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Does my generator interlock require a ground rod?
I will back feed the main panel of my home with the portable generator, power inlet box and breaker. The schematic for the generator shows that neutral is connected to the ground inside the generator.
...
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Intermittent flickering lights across multiple circuits and multiple brands of bulbs
I'm having an issue in a house I bought last fall where I'll be sitting in a room and the lights will flash on and off so fast it feels seizure inducing. I don't think it's every bulb every time this ...
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How to fix bonded neutral and ground in subpanels
I am selling my home and the buyers inspection says the bonded neutral and ground must be corrected. How should I fix this?
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Necessary with 2 neutral terminals on Light Sensor (Steinel Nightmatic 3000)?
I am installing a Steinel Nightmatic 3000, which has the circuit diagram:
But since I have a 3 core cable to hand leading to my junction box I would like to install it in the following way:
[...
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Voltage between neutral line and soil?
I am feeling unpleasant electric shock when I touch metal water pipes or faucets.
This happens also when the main breaker is off (L1, L2 and L3). This rules out my appliances (hot water boiler and etc....
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Installing a smart switch + adding a neutral wire
I'd like to replace my current light switch with this one: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B07RV3KXF4. Wiring diagram (focus on the one on the right):
My house is a rather old one and I only ...
