help with a 110v light switch wiring problem

[sweetk30]

i am not as much with a/c voltage as dc in auto so help me wrap my head around this .

older house has 3 wire in outlet boxes hot/neutral/ground .

i purchased this switch for a outside light i want to know when its on/of . you can wire this switch for light on or off to light up . https://www.lowes.com/pd/Eaton-Sing...-with-LED-Combination-Light-Switch/1001438288

my problem is i can only get the light to light up when the switch is off and i only want it to light up the light when the switch is on . any help would be great guys .

 

[wyliesdiesels]

post a picture of how you have it wired

did you break the tab on the left side?

 

[sweetk30]

i wired it both ways no change .

and i did not brake the tab no . the way i want it to light it says brake off tab intact .

could it be because the beaker box shares ground and neutral buss bars inside ?

 

[sweetk30]

This is were i have the 2 wires now from old switch . . Am i wrong and need to move the left side neutral to the lower right . And only have the jumper over to left ?

 

[sparky 1971]

The neutral is only going to connect to the silver screw. The hot wire to the brass screw and the switch leg (black to the light) to the black screw.

 

[mm08822]

...

 

[sweetk30]

Wired both ways . Light is on for the switch . Outside light don't work . And hook up jumper like pic from left 2screw to lower right outside light works and red goes out and wont come back on switch on or off . .

ya ya shoot me i played hot and grounded the screw . i found the beaker tho so now its off every time i am trying to wire this up .

 

[Old tool guy]

In the second to last picture, why is there a black and a white on the bottom screw?

 

[sparky 1971]

Wired both ways . Light is on for the switch . Outside light don't work . And hook up jumper like pic from left 2screw to lower right outside light works and red goes out and wont come back on switch on or off . .

ya ya shoot me i played hot and grounded the screw . i found the beaker tho so now its off every time i am trying to wire this up .

How was the old switch connected and what do you have in the box, wire wise?

You should have all of the neutrals tied together with a pigtail coming out for the silver screw only. There should be a black that goes to the light, that will connect to the black screw. There should be at least one black that is the hot wire, there may be more than one pigtailed, that goes to the brass colored screw. There should be two black wires connected to the switch as well as one neutral.

If all you have is a black, white, and ground and the light comes on when the black and white are connected, you have a switch loop with no neutral so the pilot light idea isn't going to work. I'm guessing that isn't the case because of the green wire nut.

 

[PCustoms]

If all you have is a black, white, and ground and the light comes on when the black and white are connected, you have a switch loop with no neutral so the pilot light idea isn't going to work. I'm guessing that isn't the case because of the green wire nut.

Beat me to it...

 

[sparky 1971]

Beat me to it...

The green wire nut should mean there's a splice which makes me think it isn't a switch loop. Of course, I guess someone could have used it to make a single ground wire longer but I don't see that happening very easily.

On the other hand, I only see one black and white. Where's the other black? Or red.

 

[PCustoms]

The green wire nut should mean there's a splice which makes me think it isn't a switch loop. Of course, I guess someone could have used it to make a single ground wire longer but I don't see that happening very easily.

On the other hand, I only see one black and white. Where's the other black? Or red.

Well, I started reading your post and thought "but what if it's a switch loop?"...

I feel like that's a 2 gang box, but can't quite tell.

Also feel like there should be a second black wire? Idk, been up for too long today to think

 

[75gmck25]

If its a switch loop they should have marked the end of the white wire (tape or marker) to show it was functioning as a black wire in a switch loop. That would have prevented a lot of confusion.

 

[PCustoms]

@sweetk30 is there a second switch for this light?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

yikes.

yeah incoming hot ("line" on instructions) goes to brass screw, outgoing (to fixture(s)) switched hot goes to black screw, neutral (white) to silver screw and bare copper (EGC) to green screw.

Do you remember and can you reconnect the old switch how it was connected prior to you removing everything and take a picture?

 

[sweetk30]

@sweetk30 is there a second switch for this light?

No . Just this one . But i have found some other weird stuff in other places.

I plan to get my meter out and start poking around a bit more tomorrow.

But side note braker off i also lost power to sun room lights on the other side of this wall .

And to make it more fun every time i want to check this light i have to block the photocell for the light to turn on . So i will put a chunk of black tape on for testing also .

 

[PCustoms]

And to make it more fun every time i want to check this light i have to block the photocell for the light to turn on . So i will put a chunk of black tape on for testing also .

Hmmm, depending on how that photocell is wired, I bet it screws with the pilot light on the switch

 

[sweetk30]

yikes.

yeah incoming hot ("line" on instructions) goes to brass screw, outgoing (to fixture(s)) switched hot goes to black screw, neutral (white) to silver screw and bare copper (EGC) to green screw.

Do you remember and can you reconnect the old switch how it was connected prior to you removing everything and take a picture?

It was 1 ground / bare to frame screw . 1 black and 1 white to the single switch .

So now we talk about it i think its only opening and closing 1 wire in a loop . And this box also feeds the lights power in the sun room . . And thats a 3way switch combo in that room . 1 at this wall area and 1 in the hall way in the house that goes to the sun room .

 

[sweetk30]

Hmmm, depending on how that photocell is wired, I bet it screws with the pilot light on the switch

3 wires on the led dusk to dawn . I put them up my self all 1 unit . White / black / grd . And 2 screws to hold up .

And i was testing by blocking and dusk to dawn comes on but watching little red on new switch still didn't.

 

[sparky 1971]

It was 1 ground / bare to frame screw . 1 black and 1 white to the single switch .

So now we talk about it i think its only opening and closing 1 wire in a loop . And this box also feeds the lights power in the sun room . . And thats a 3way switch combo in that room . 1 at this wall area and 1 in the hall way in the house that goes to the sun room .

The pilot switch ain't gonna work like that. The white wire is not a neutral, it's a switch leg and should have been marked as such. You need a neutral and unless it's a multi gang box with something else that has a neutral on the same circuit, you're SOL.

 

[sweetk30]

The pilot switch ain't gonna work like that. The white wire is not a neutral, it's a switch leg and should have been marked as such. You need a neutral and unless it's a multi gang box with something else that has a neutral on the same circuit, you're SOL.

I get more pics of what the old owner did and post up .

 

[wyliesdiesels]

It was 1 ground / bare to frame screw . 1 black and 1 white to the single switch .

So now we talk about it i think its only opening and closing 1 wire in a loop . And this box also feeds the lights power in the sun room . . And thats a 3way switch combo in that room . 1 at this wall area and 1 in the hall way in the house that goes to the sun room .

if you only have 2 wires + ground for this fixture, then its a switch loop going back to the fixture. you wont have a neutral to power the pilot light with this setup.

however, if the 3-way switch is the power input to the 3-way circuit (meaning the fixture is connected to the other 3 way), then you may have a neutral in this box. however it should be powered from the same breaker if you want to use it.

 

[sparky 1971]

Start by putting some black or red tape on the end of the white wire before someone comes along calling it a neutral and getting this whole thing sideways. It's going to happen eventually, but let's see if it can be hooked up correctly before the train runs off the rails.

 

[sweetk30]

if you only have 2 wires + ground for this fixture, then its a switch loop going back to the fixture. you wont have a neutral to power the pilot light with this setup.

however, if the 3-way switch is the power input to the 3-way circuit (meaning the fixture is connected to the other 3 way), then you may have a neutral in this box. however it should be powered from the same breaker if you want to use it.

This 1 outside lite is 1 switch . But the 3way combo i think is getting its power from this box . More tomorrow. Dark and cold out now .

 

[sweetk30]

NOT MY HANDY WORK ...... and why some one would mix white and black on this install of same length wires i got no idea .

Looks like the switch does do a loop open/closed on 1 line top left in box . so after finding this i am not at a point i want to dig in to deep to figure out were i can flip this around and get it to a normal setup .

 

[dave*99]

The photos are zoomed in very tight so it's difficult to understand what is going on.
I suspect you have all you need in there to make it work. There are 2 white wires in the back of the box with a yellow wire nut. It's likely this is your system neutral. You will need to add a wire there and connect to the neutral on your model 277 lighted switch.
Perhaps someone used white pigtails on the black wires adding confusion to the issue. Hard to see from here.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

yeah hard to tell with the zoomed in pics

with a multimeter or wiggy, one can quickly determine what is what in there. as said above i bet there is a neutral that can be used and then feed the switched output to the appropriate leg of the switch loop

remember, 1 leg of the switch loop will be constant hot(use meter to check voltage to ground). you use that for your line in and then the other leg from the switch loop is going to the fixture.

do this after you figure out which one is supply neutral.

 

[sparky 1971]

I agree with the above two posts. I'm willing to bet everything is there, but I can't tell **** from apple butter with those pictures.

It might not even have switch loop.

 

[PCustoms]

It might not even have switch loop, someone may have stuck a white tail in the Wago for the hots, and a black in the neutral.

Looks to me like somebody wired both of those wagos *** backwards

 

[theoldwizard1]

Deleted

 

[PCustoms]

Wiring a 2-Way Neon Pilot Light Switch with Light Bulb

This helps how?

Blatantly wrong for this application and not related to the issue. Correct diagram already posted.

 

[dave*99]

Wiring a 2-Way Neon Pilot Light Switch with Light Bulb

This is a Leviton. The OP has an Eaton switch. The terminal locations are opposite. OP should ignore this diagram. Stick with the Eaton diagram.

 

[dave*99]

I agree with the above two posts. I'm willing to bet everything is there, but I can't tell **** from apple butter with those pictures.

It might not even have switch loop.

Agreed. The Wagos with 2 whites and 1 black trouble me.

 

[sweetk30]

Well update . . Now i have to have the outside light switch on for the 3way to even get power to work for the other room

There is a rain day coming up sunday . I might tackle it then and see what i find .

And the pics are not zoomed in . I must of took them to close is all . Latest samsung smart phone with crazy good camera setup .

 

[PCustoms]

Well update . . Now i have to have the outside light switch on for the 3way to even get power to work for the other room

There is a rain day coming up sunday . I might tackle it then and see what i find .

And the pics are not zoomed in . I must of took them to close is all . Latest samsung smart phone with crazy good camera setup .

So the other switch in the box is a 3-way?

 

[sparky 1971]

So the other switch in the box is a 3-way?

I think the three way is in another room, fed from this box. Looks like the other half of this box is a duplex receptacle to me. I run into this type of thing all the time. I usually get the call from a pissed off wife on Monday morning after her husband spent the entire weekend trying to change a switch or light fixture and took too many wire nuts off. Usually the light is stuck on and the switch shuts everything else off.

The good thing is that since a receptacle is there, and is supposed to be that way, a neutral is present and it should be easy peasy.

 

[sparky 1971]

Well update . . Now i have to have the outside light switch on for the 3way to even get power to work for the other room

There is a rain day coming up sunday . I might tackle it then and see what i find .

And the pics are not zoomed in . I must of took them to close is all . Latest samsung smart phone with crazy good camera setup .

Make sure you have a meter when you're ready to tackle it again. A meter, not one of those effing glow pens that some people think are the same thing.

 

[dave*99]

And the pics are not zoomed in . I must of took them to close is all . Latest samsung smart phone with crazy good camera setup .

So we should blame the Indian and not the arrow?

 

[PCustoms]

I think the three way is in another room, fed from this box. Looks like the other half of this box is a duplex receptacle to me. I run into this type of thing all the time. I usually get the call from a pissed off wife on Monday morning after her husband spent the entire weekend trying to change a switch or light fixture and took too many wire nuts off. Usually the light is stuck on and the switch shuts everything else off.

The good thing is that since a receptacle is there, and is supposed to be that way, a neutral is present and it should be easy peasy.

I see the shape now, that is a receptacle. Or a receptacle shaped switch....

At this point I'd nuke the whole thing back to the wires entering the box and start over.

How much do you charge for a pissed off wife call?

 

[sparky 1971]

I see the shape now, that is a receptacle. Or a receptacle shaped switch....

At this point I'd nuke the whole thing back to the wires entering the box and start over.

That's what I usually do, everything gets torn down and put back together with fresh tails on the proper wires. I've never done it over the interweb before though.