Electrical help
I'm switching out a traditional switch that controls a motion light with a switch/outlet combo. I have power to the outlet part but my switch is not working. What am I doing wrong?
New switch/outlet...
White wires connected on same side...
Black wires connected on same side and ground wires grounded.
Inside of the box...
You need the "Black" to go to the "Black" for the lamp to work, it looks to me like you have a neutral "white" wire trying to power the light, no good...
Sometimes the wires get run funny to save time, make sure there is a neutral and a hot, the two white wires should be tied together, the black wires should be one for the outlet and one to the lamps (like the top white wire should be the black lamp wire...
Hell I even confused myself this time....Do you have the cut sheet to the new switch?
edit: I guess in other words, the light power black wire should go on the brass screw...with the two neutrals together....
Last edited by GT Jets; 01-29-2010 at 05:31 PM.
GT
Originally Posted by Quickjet
Put a 300 on the back of it, Flywheel it and a nosecone. $15,000 later you'll have a 65 mph pile of shit......
pm me your number I'll walk you thru it
find the hot /pig tail it and the same for the neuts and then use the spare wire which should be your switch leg/lite and put that on the switch side
brass is the key
1. take all your wires off except the ground
2. find out which black is the actual hot with a milti-meter or "hot-pen"
3. make the two whites and a 6'' piece of white together with a wire nut.
4. take the other end of the 6'' white to the silver screw.
5. take the black that is not hot to the brass (gold) colored screw
6. take the hot to BOTH black screws
7. screw it all back into the box, put the plate on, crack open a cold one.
originally posted by ritcheyrchLife is all about ass, you're either covering it, hauling it, laughing it off, kicking it, kissing it, busting it, trying to get a piece of it, or behaving like one.
The gold screw is where the line side "hot" of power will need to be connected. Both whites should be connected to the silver screw. The two black screws are switched. 1 is for switching the outlet of the device and the other is for switching a light or fan. To find out which black is power just hold the ground lightly with one hand and lightly touch the black with the other and you should get a light tingle, the tighter you hold the more tingle you get. Another thing to remember in AC power is the black red blue wires are hot and they go to the gold screw. Like colored people have gold teeth.
What in world are you talking about ????Hold the wires and get a lite tingle??????? Maybe you should stand in a bucket of water with your shoes off and stick YOUR hand in to the buss bars of your main panel !!!! And please report back to us about the tingle !!!!
Only kidding. But it will only give you a little buzz if held very lightly.
now thats where the term electricians do it without shortsWhat in world are you talking about ????Hold the wires and get a lite tingle??????? Maybe you should stand in a bucket of water with your shoes off and stick YOUR hand in to the buss bars of your main panel !!!! And please report back to us about the tingle !!!!
He also needs to pigtail the grounds not leave 2 wires under the screw
If you don't have a meter, here's a quick way.
Remove both whites and pig tail them with a small piece of white wire & wire nut, run that to the silver.
Move one of the blacks to the gold.
Jumper the blacks together with a small piece of wire.
If the recepticle doesn't work, switch the black wires around.
Is it fixed or did you get shocked, drank a beer and gave up
I grabbed the hot wire real tight!!! Just kidding. It's up and running now. Thanks for everyone's help.Is it fixed or did you get shocked, drank a beer and gave up
When doing electrical I like to think of it like a big battery. I know the ground has no insulation, and to figure out which one is hot, I use the old battery to the tongue trick. Hurts like hell the first time, but you get used to it after a while. Better than taking 5 hour energy!
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