![]() ![]() It might work, but only until the fire starts. And under no circumstances try to control both a fan and dimmable lights with a single dimmer. If you're unsure, consult your retailer or an electrician. The purpose of the device is usually printed on the device itself, so look for language like "fan speed controller," "fan only," or "incandescent fixtures only" (via Smart Home Starter). But if you're replacing a dimmer or fan speed controller, what you really have to do is be sure that you're installing a new device that has the same purpose and requirements as the old one: a two-way dimmer, for example, will have different wiring requirements than a three-way dimmer. not to mention the fact that there are several different types of dimmer to contend with. They had bags over their heads." It's even worse with electrical wiring, since dimmers don't work properly with fans but look nearly identical to fan speed controllers. Asked if fans running nude across the baseball field were men or women, Yogi Berra once said, "I don't know. It's always important to identify a fan circuit properly. Once the wires are attached, it's a good idea to wrap the switch in electrical tape so that the wires and terminals don't make accidental contact with other wires. Hook this loop around your screw with the insulation end on the left (looking down at the head of the screw) and the wire's end on the right, so that you won't inadvertently loosen the wire when tightening the screw. If a pressure plate is available, make sure your stripped wire ends are straight and no longer than the stripping guide on the back of the switch, then secure the wire under the plate and tighten the screw well.įor securing wire under simple screw terminals, you'll need to bend the wire into a hook shape using needle-nose pliers (or the holes in the side of most electrician's wire-stripping pliers). So it's best to avoid backstabs altogether. Backstabs are notoriously insecure (and therefore dangerous) over the long haul, says George Brazil, and they don't typically accept 12-gauge wire, which is increasingly common in houses as 20 amp circuits are required by code in more and more places. Electrician site for more help finding out where you are and where you're trying to go.įirst, let's rule out the last option. Consult the diagrams on John Grabowski's Mr. The same is true for neutral wires, except that there's no pigtail as there's no need to connect neutral to simple light switches. Typically all the ground wires that enter a switch's box are connected together with a wire nut or similar device, with a short "pigtail" wire attached to the switch. If so, stop and call an electrician, because this creates a dangerous potential for electrocution at the light fixture itself. the light is switched on the neutral wire rather than the hot. You might find that your switch connects to two neutral wires instead of two hots. Basic switches don't use the neutral, and so have two brass terminals. So maybe they did something crappy to bridge the old switch so it only acts like a normal switch now? It would not surprise me if this was the case, I'm always discovering new things that suck, that previous owners did to the house.Usually screw terminal color relates to the function of the wire you're attaching to it: white (neutral) connects to a silver terminal, black (hot) connects to a brass screw, and green or bare copper connects to a green ground screw. It seems like maybe the existing switch is a 3-way switch? But I read these have to be used in pairs, except no other switch affects this light. The modern switch is 2 blacks marked hot, a white marked neutral, and a grey marked gnd. If I use a voltmeter across terminals, I get: My understanding is the grey side would be ground, and black would be hot.and I guess red the other side of hot? The terminal the black wire is attached to is marked as common The single terminal has a grey sheathed wire. ![]() When youre wiring decorative light switches such as chrome or. The 2 terminals have a black sheathed(B) and red sheathed(R) wire attached. The other terminal is marked as L1 and is the output to the light fixture. So the existing switch has 2 terminals on one side, and 1 on the other. I don't wanna goof it up so I'd like an explanation if I could get one. I'm trying to understand how to connect a modern switch up in the place of an existing old one and it just isn't making sense to me. My house was built in the 50s, with wiring from that time period.
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