New answers tagged switch
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I have a similar wiring but with a really old switch, I am just trying to get to an updated switch on this and want to make sure I wire correctly with the new switch. Any tips? I read that the power going out should be pigtailed instead of on the switch but that isn't possible to do at this time and the power is going to a single outlet.
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In short the wires on 2way and 3way switches do not necessarily match your fans color codes.
You need to look up your fan and see which colors are actually l, m, h.
btw. you should use a 4 wire 3 speed fan pull switch, not a 3 wire light switch.
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I finally got an electrician to come help out but he wasn't sure exactly what was going on without spending a lot of time tracing wires which he didn't recommend. The solution ended up being wiring a remote controlled switch in the box in the ceiling with the porch light and mounting the remote on the wall. Then a new wire for the other switch.
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2 wire switches like this are usually in Series with a thermal element like a adjustable bimetallic contact with the element in the attic.
Jumping the actual thermostat out in the attic would be the first step.
Once the actual device is jumpered then the switch would. Intros the fan.
I have found smart devices that could now be put in place with the switch ...
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The manufacturer did not intend for the push terminals to be reused per photograph. I replaced with Lutron 3 way switch and with a Leviton 3-way dimmer switch for the other switch. The prior owner had switched the common and a traveler wire, which was why I bothered to examine in the first place.
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The best option is to replace it with a better, spec or commercial grade device. Those will have proper backwire terminals that close and open by tightening the screw rather than a spring.
The differences between cheap residential and better grade devices are many and significant. There are plenty of youtube videos that show wiring devices cut open to expose ...
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Most likely (because anything is possible), the two black wires going into one end of the switch (back stab and screw next to it) are "incoming hot" and "pass-through hot". All neutrals (white) are together (which is good) and all groups (bare copper) are together (which is required).
If your new smart switch has screws:
Line/hot/...
answered Jun 9 at 18:38
manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
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Elementary, My Dear
One cable comes from the upstream source (the service panel or another device box).
One cable is the light loop, in which the black (hot) is switched and the white (neutral) is the return. This is the only cable you can identify with any certainty without a voltage test since its path is broken by the switch.
One cable simply passes ...
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You'll have to either rearrange things or redo the wiring run
Your problem is that the original installer lashed this together from the 12/3 and 12/2 NM they had on their truck instead of stopping to think about this for a moment. Right now, it's not a Code issue, but it becomes one as soon as you add the second smart switch, whereas it wouldn't have been ...
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There is no minimum height in the national electric code.
When a new 4 wire is brought in in front of the wall the fixture a surface mount is touching the floor so the wires do not require a wireway or conduit.
I like to put the receptacle at the counter level so it can be removed by pulling the stove out a little it can be tough with it at a lower height ...
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Architectural Graphic Standards indicate a minimum of 12” from finish floor to center of outlet, but I’d use the stove’s manufactures installation instructions.
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What you have right now is a MultiWire Branch Circuit - MWBC. That is wonderful because it lets you get twice as much power over a 3-wire cable as over a 2-wire cable. But the way things are wired right now, it doesn't do what you need with the existing wires. However, rather than changing to a single switch, which would of course limit you to just 1/2 the ...
answered Jun 8 at 20:47
manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
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1
It should be fine to use the neutral in this situation because its already shared between the two circuits. This is a "multi-wire branch circuit" (MWBC) and the breakers that the red and black wires go back to should have their handles tied so that they trip at the same time. In the first question you linked, the objection was using a neutral ...
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OK, so this is how 3-way switches work.
There are TWO travelers not one. Neutral does not go to any 3-way switch. All the wires on each switch are "hot" at one time or another.
This is darned inconvenient for trying to install a smart switch, but people who installed 3-ways in the 1970s were trying to get them to work, not to get them "...
answered Jun 6 at 1:42
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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5
What you're seeing is a traveler spur
Oftentimes, when power is available at a switch box and a 3-way switching arrangment is desired at that location, the cable bringing switched-hot to the light also terminates at the switch box where power enters. This creates what I call a "traveler spur", not to be confused with a switch loop where power is ...
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You can't do that according to NEC. You need a dedicated circuit for receptacle/s and it must be GFCI protected. You can add a GFCI receptacle (dedicated circuit) and branch of that GFCI receptacle to another receptacle.
If you still want to do it ( I DO NOT recommend it), you can take your source wire and add some pigtails to it to go to other switches, and ...
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In my case, it was because the light switch serviced a linear fluorescent lamp (a shop light in the garage). A CFL is a compact fluorescent lamp, so it may have the same issues. So it might be the type of bulb you have installed.
In my case, the switch turned on and off an outlet and the light was plugged into the outlet. This made it easy to test.
Test ...
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The door bell units that I am familiar with operate on 24VAC. The wires to the push button switch will be excited with the 24VAC line on one wire and the other wire referenced to the 24VAC-RET return line. For the lowest cost doorbells this switch closes a circuit between the two wires which allows current to flow through the door bell ding-dong mechanism.
...
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I will take a SWAG and say that is an illuminated doorbell button using a LED. The black thing is probably a bridge. As far as normal operation just connect the red to white and it will ring. Most of the doorbell buttons I am familiar with are a simple switch.
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You will need to dig out the top of the receptacle mounting plate where it is underneath the tile and tile backing board. That's going to be a pain. Hopefully you won't have to shave off any of the tile, it's hard to say, just borderline.
Then you can move the receptacle forwards with spacers. These spacers can stack by snapping together to raise the ...
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Looks like more than a 1/4", so you can't use a Caddy RLC, you will need to use an extender like an Arlington BE1 or Raco add-a-depth ring. Raco's are a bit spooky but easier to install.
Because of the mud you will probably have to remove bottom screw before you can wiggle the top out.
NEC 314.20 Flush-Mounted Installations. Installations within or ...
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You can if you’re willing to make the receptacle always hot, in which case you can repurpose the white wire to the switch box as a neutral. Basically, after turning off the power, you remove the switch first. Then, you reconnect the receptacle with your usual middle-of-the-run receptacle wiring, white to silver, black to brass, though you may have to replace ...
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Apparently, the feed goes to the switch first, then to the lights and finally to the receptacle. If you’re willing to go with wireless switching, you can wire a receiver to each light, connecting the wires according to instructions. (Be careful, though, since some wireless receivers use European wire colors, where the neutral color is blue rather than white.)...
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This is a pretty typical install
This is about what you'd expect to see in a situation where power is brought to the switch first, then carried to the light along with the switched (dimmed, in your case) hot for the fixture. The wire junction with the white pigtail to the dimmer sticking out of it is that always-hot power I mentioned, while the reddish wire ...
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This sounds like phantom voltage. Most meters are high impedance and will show a voltage on a wire that has voltage close to it.
If everything is working properly with your switches there is nothing to worry about.
Phantom voltage can be found all over your home and it is not dangerous.
If your switches are working you can ignore it.
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I do not see a ground wire although that is possible, a ground is normally a bare copper in residential wiring and it would be attached to a green screw that is normally part of the metal mounting yoke.
I believe I see a black with some white paint crossing from one switch to the other this should be a hot.
Since you have a red wire I would follow that back ...
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Nope, this is a gory mess. I see what they were doing there, but they're not allowed to do that.
There's a bunch of paralleling going on, with multiple paths for the always-hot, and switched-hots going all directions from the switch.
There's no clean way to fix this, except to change out the switch for 2 switches, and make each light an independent "...
answered May 28 at 4:37
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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2
I'm not an electrician, and I'm not familiar with the National Electrical Code, so this answer may contain inaccuracies.
Everything seems to make sense, but I see some potential problems.
In this diagram, all of the black wire nuts are always-hots. So are all of the black wires, except for the one coming from hall light #1. The white wire nuts in the upper ...
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The easiest way to do this is to disconnect the red and black wire from the switch and wire nut them together. Use a blank cover to cover the switch box. This allows you to go back to switched outlets in the future if you want. Make sure there will still be a light controlled by a switch by the door.
You can get more involved and disconnect the red wire from ...
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Just replace A with B. In Box#1 disconnect the live wire to the switch for Fan#2, from the 120V source and connect it to the Fan#1 terminal.
If these "high voltage" thermostats are actually carrying the load current, not using a relay, make sure Thermostat 1 can handle the current for both fans.. Look at the labelling or documentation for the ...
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