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Hold on. You can't just eliminate lights
You may notice that in almost any room you go into, anywhere, you have an intuition as to where to reach for the light switch. The light switch is in an expected location. That's not by accident. That's established in the Building Codes. It is mandatory.
It also comes up in NEC Section 210.70(A)(1), which ...
answered Dec 29 '19 at 17:07
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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North American wiring uses the following color codes:
green, yellow/grreen, bare -- ground
white, gray - neutral
all other colors - any hot
In 240V 3-phase delta, wild leg must be orange, but you'll never see that.
That is the sum total of color coding requirements in NEC.
As you can see, your boxes comply. Black is legal for any hot (except a wild ...
answered Dec 30 '19 at 1:08
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Yes, this is correct. In fact this is the preferred way to wire light switches.
One cable brings ground, neutral, and live in,
live goes to the switch then a different cable takes live, neutral, and ground up to the light socket.
The white neutral wires are not connected to the switches because mechanical switches do not need electric power to operate.
...
6
Replacing the box and patching drywall, etc. is a lot of work. So the usual answer is:
Cap the "extra" wire on both ends
Install a single switch + blank plate:
The trick is that the wiring can vary a bit. The typical configuration will either be:
Hot/Neutral into switch box, hot connected to both switches, neutral passes through
Neutral/Switched Hot Fan/...
answered Dec 29 '19 at 15:48
manassehkatz-Reinstate Monica
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You have a few options...
Cap the extra wires in the ceiling box and do nothing else.
Cap the unused wires in both boxes and install a single-sided cover plate.
Remove the switch box, install a deep single-gang box, cap the wires in both boxes, and repair the drywall. Whether you can do this option depends on how many cables come into the box, as fill rules ...
5
The middle image clearly shows a nut at the bottom of the recess or hole.
Get some deep thin wall sockets and it should come undone easily.
Or undo the flathead screws and make the wires safe then break the base. Then remove or grind down the threads...
4
You're going to need a deep socket or maybe a needle nosed pliers.
4
Switches (only) can ground through the mounting screws
No need to run a ground wire to the switch. Presuming the switch has a metal yoke, it will ground via the grounding screws to the metal box (presuming it is grounded).
Is it grounded?
It's difficult to say whether the box is grounded. In 1960 all the boxes were metal, so that alone doesn't tell us ...
answered Jan 21 at 8:59
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Be VERY Careful What You Install
With plugged in items, if there is a problem it is usually quite obvious and, very importantly, very easy to resolve quickly - just unplug it.
With hardwired items, including smart switches, timers, touch switches (like this one), motion sensors, etc., if there are problems they may manifest themselves by simply dying (...
answered Dec 26 '19 at 15:17
manassehkatz-Reinstate Monica
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Can't do it
Here's the problem. Your original installation only has the two wires, even though it controls both light and fan. This means the original switch was not a plain switch. It was a complex beast, which multiplexed both fan and light control onto those two wires.
It can be fairly guessed that it's having a conversation either with a smart fan,...
answered Jan 5 at 21:59
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Well, you're halfway there, and kudos on you for not blindly experimenting as many will tend to. (this can lead to configurations which "work" but will kill you).
I can tell you what is definitely correct:
Green to your ground wires.
White to your actual neutral wires, and your all-white bundle appears to be both neutral and also neutral for these ...
answered Jan 18 at 21:39
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Flip one side from L1 to L2
Your switches are intended for both single-pole and multi-way (multi-location) applications; as a result, both the "up" and the "down" positions on the switch connect COM to another terminal (either L1 or L2, depending on which position we're talking about), instead of having only one position that connects the terminals together,...
2
You don't need a wire to ground the switch, the mounting screws satisfy the requirement when used with metal boxes, and there is an exception that allows you to not satisfy grounding requirements if no grounding means exists for replacement switches.
What sends up warning flares is in your question you made it sound like you just blew off the grounding ...
2
This should be fine*
There is not a restriction that a disposal must be on a dedicated circuit unless the manufacturer states that it must be. Unless you have a high-end beast of a commercial unit, it probably doesn't.
There are rules in the NEC on circuit sharing, and a "fixed" device like a disposal or dishwasher can't use any more than 50% of the ...
1
Expanding on the comments here.
1) determine whether your dishwasher is on the same circuit. Turn breakers off & see what happens with each breaker, i.e. does the outlet stay live while the dishwasher goes down?
2) look up the amperage drawn by the dispos-all and any other items (dishwasher or anything else that share that breaker. Compare with ...
1
Doesn't sound like this will be possible. What you have now in the switch box is just a switch loop--hot in and hot out. There's no neutral return path, which would be required for your light.
If you were to connect your light to what's there it would probably work, but everything that gets plugged into the outlet thereafter would have its supply voltage ...
1
I'm an electrician. Switches have two "hots" one is the switchleg (switch to light) the other is the line in. The whites are neutrals, possibly for the lights and nearby outlets. The bare copper is ground and will be tied to the box itself. If you have a voltage tester you will notice the switch legs are only hot when the switch in in the on position. At the ...
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