New answers tagged switch
0
votes
Diagnosing lamp electrical issues: 3-socket floor lamp has resistance for each socket, but no power
Resistance between the larger prong of the cord and the edge of the socket was restored for the top socket, so all 3 sockets show resistance.
That is great for the neutral.
However the switch is ...
- 4,113
0
votes
Electricity goes out during day and half of what was out comes back on during the night
You are smart in calling the power company. There may be issues in the breaker box with circuits getting hot expanding and losing contact then cooling down and coming back in use. You didn't say where ...
- 490
0
votes
Can I increase the setting of my well pump's pressure switch to improve pressure?
In the simplest example of a typical residential submerged-pump well water system THAT IS PRESSURIZED, AND NOT SIMPLY GRAVITY FED, there is a water pressure tank that is directly supplied with water ...
2
votes
How can I figure out which switches used to control which outlets?
It's best you redo the work, because people who don't know about breaking off tabs is absolutely certain to not know about the NEC 110.14 torque screwdriver requirement (sloppily torqued screws are ...
5
votes
How to sync 2-way switches
That's not really possible. Plain switches are passive devices that are human powered which means there is no way to telegraph the action of one switch over to the handle of the other switch. They're ...
1
vote
How should I connect a switch as the load on a GFCI outlet?
Note that if you want to split a duplex GFCI/receptacle so that one receptacle is switched and the other is always hot, you can't do that. The solution in that case is to follow the directions below ...
1
vote
Are my LED lights delayed because of a middle-strip connection?
What you are seeing is not uncommon, many LED dimmers cause the LEDs to delay turning on as they adjust their internal electronics etc. The brighter the setting the faster it will turn on. If you put ...
- 3,969
5
votes
Accepted
"Switch, General-Use Snap" -- What Does that Even Mean?
NEC is specifying snap switches designed to fit standard enclosures or domed covers. I.E. our ubiquitous friend the "1-gang box". Separately in NEC 110.2-3, NEC requires equipment which is ...
0
votes
Two switches what is it for and what does it mean?
I would say Harper is probably right. The one nearest the door is usually for the main light and the one furthest from the door is almost always for the fan. It could be for a second set of lights in ...
- 1,014
0
votes
"Switch, General-Use Snap" -- What Does that Even Mean?
That is correct.
The push button switches are snap switch category.
When you push, the spring will eventually snap (click) into new position.
- 4,113
0
votes
What's a good way to customize or recess a lightswitch?
Here are two possible ways to do this.
1) Along the lines you describe.
Light switches are designed to be mounted in junction boxes that are either in or on walls (flush or surface mount) and covered ...
- 20.3k
0
votes
What's a good way to customize or recess a lightswitch?
What you want to do is recess the UL listed junction box in the wall, mount a UL listed light switch in it, cover it with a UL listed cover plate, then put some sort of decorative "thing" on ...
- 32.1k
1
vote
Bathroom fan and light wiring
If not overly weird, the "incoming cable fom the circuit" should be ground, neutral, unswitched hot.
If the old unit had only a single switch, your right, proper and legal method for what's ...
- 144k
0
votes
RT18M6215SR Samsung Issues Staying running
Perform a total reset.
This shut down seems to give allowance for the device to break the loop of conflicting commands, reboot and refresh.
For your Samsung refrigerator, use the ‘power off’ button to ...
- 4,113
2
votes
When I turn down the dimmer switch on my lights, do I actually use less electricity?
I am answering this question 10 years later, but with some fun data. Many of the answers focus on energy wasted as heat, especially at the dimmer switch itself. I used a thermal-infrared camera to ...
- 131
2
votes
I have concerns about the wiring in a friend’s new house that frankly none of us understand
If people have been repeatedly swapping wires over in an attempt to fix things, you can easily end up with a situation where you have no idea what goes where any more. Attempting more swapping of ...
- 1,875
5
votes
What kind of wire is the white neutral wire and where can I get it?
Common error is to think the bundle of neutrals is "spares" just lying there waiting for a smart switch. Not at all, neutral is the normal return line, and those wires already have a job to ...
0
votes
What kind of wire is the white neutral wire and where can I get it?
For standard US/Canada residential wiring, the answer is going to be 14 AWG or 12 AWG if it is a 15A circuit (based on the breaker size) or 12 AWG if it is a 20A circuit.
You can do any of:
Get some ...
3
votes
Accepted
Replacing 2 light switches (fan and fan light) with 1 carro wireless switch
Take the Always hot and plug it in the most left (Live) on the Carro.
Then plug the second black from that switch to the Fan.
Take the the switched from the second switch and plug it in the light.
...
- 4,113
4
votes
Replacing 2 light switches (fan and fan light) with 1 carro wireless switch
I wish you hadn't cropped the photo so tight; it would have been useful to see where the red wire goes.
The diagram they provided looks to be slightly incomplete in that the white neutral should also ...
- 9,069
4
votes
Replacing 2 light switches (fan and fan light) with 1 carro wireless switch
First you'll have to verify that the upper black wire on the left switch is connected to the black wire on the right switch which would mean it's the hot or line feed. Then the other black wire on the ...
- 60.3k
5
votes
Replacing 2 light switches (fan and fan light) with 1 carro wireless switch
Ignoring ground (bare wire on the light switch) wires, you have 2 wires to each old switch. 3 are black, 1 red. That should be:
One black from each switch connected together somewhere in this box.
...
0
votes
Outside lights always on, but could there be a switch?
There is a chance. Unfortunately, the presence of wires does not mean much. They would have to be exactly the same wires used by the lights. The only way to determine that is to trace the circuit ...
- 1,586
0
votes
Replacing a ceiling lamp LED. Has 2 switches at either end. Black wire hot no matter switch position. Need Help
It is common to find always Hot in the ceiling box.
From there it goes to one for the 3 way.
That one passes it on to the second 3 way using wires called travelers.
That second 3 way sends it up back ...
- 4,113
1
vote
Replacing a ceiling lamp LED. Has 2 switches at either end. Black wire hot no matter switch position. Need Help
Non contact voltage probes and multimeters will lie to you. This is an effect called phantom voltage.
Connect a real load (like the lamp)
- 15k
0
votes
Lurton Sensing Switch electrical
If you have multimeter (esential tool when working with electricity) use it.
You will find out that there is no 120 V between Black and White (because the white is not netrual).
The black in the box ...
- 4,113
0
votes
GFCI receptacle and 3-way switches
If it is an illuminated switch, that could be your problem. The illumination power sometimes comes from an intentional leakage through an LED/bulb between a hot wire and ground. All built into the ...
- 1
2
votes
Lurton Sensing Switch electrical
What you at the switch is what is called a switch loop.
They use the white(should be taped) wire as always hot and the black wire as switched hot to carried power back to the light.
Your Lutron switch ...
- 10.9k
1
vote
Lurton Sensing Switch electrical
You have switch loops with hot and switched hot but no neutral. That is very common on older houses and legal until relatively recently.
Smart switches often need neutral. As a result, code now ...
3
votes
Accepted
What may cause a single circuit to go down temporarily in a house?
It sounds like a faulty wire connection. Those are BAD.
Faulty connections are a recipe for house fires. While it may simply interrupt power now, it has a much more dangerous failure mode where it ...
0
votes
My outdoor lights on whole day and night. I can't find any switches for them
One way to find the culprit is to check ALL switches and junction boxes on the pertinent circuit.
If you are new and cautious about DIY electrical work, get an experienced DIY friend to do this with ...
- 11k
2
votes
What may cause a single circuit to go down temporarily in a house?
I had the same issue with a microwave. It turned out to be a loose connection in an outlet upstream from the one the micro was plugged into.
As Crip659 has said this can be a fire hazard. It may be ...
- 490
3
votes
Accepted
How to replace or repair old motor starting switch CR1061-DOA?
Motor power is proportional to its supply voltage times current. When you rewired the motor, you halved the voltage, so its current draw doubled. That is why the nameplate lists the current as 10.8/5....
- 146
6
votes
Spark and pop when installing light switch
Before I begin, and just to make a point, while it was foolish to the Nth degree to change that switch with the breaker on, doing so has demonstrated a weakness in the wiring that you might not have ...
- 375
2
votes
Spark and pop when installing light switch
No clue as to your location - so assume local regs allow bare earth wires. While not the rules, it does make sense to sheathe them, or insulate the m in some way, obviously had that been done, there'd ...
- 3,905
4
votes
Breaker Switch only Working with Certain Lights
What does the bus stab where the breaker came from look like? And what do the stab jaws on the breaker look like? Challenger breakers are defective even if used in Challenger panels, but they are ...
- 3,358
9
votes
Spark and pop when installing light switch
Would turn the power off to that switch and recheck for any other damage.
The ground wire with the notch should be replaced. Should not use damaged wires. They can break or have higher resistance(...
- 10.9k
18
votes
Spark and pop when installing light switch
It happens to the best.
When squishing the wires back there is litle control how they bend.
The pesky naked Ground bend so that it touched one of the Hot wires.
You do need someone to open and take ...
- 4,113
0
votes
Wiring a pair of switchs to always on
The "common" method of using two switches is like this:
Use a multimeter to test to find which wire is which, then you can connect to make it one switch only.
- 22.2k
0
votes
Accepted
KASA Smart Switch Wiring with Many Existing Neutrals
Clean off the wires enough to identify their color. If you see a black wire and it has white paint on it, just black it up with a sharpie to reduce confusion.
You can just attach to the pigtails ...
Top 50 recent answers are included