vavet
Well-known member
Rental house bathroom…in one switch box are a dimmer for the lights and a timer for the fan. everything is 14 ga romex. House was built in 1994.
the box has the power coming in. It has 14/2 going to the light, it has 14/3 going to the fan with the red wire not used…not sure why 14/3 was used, perhaps it had a timer/light at some point and they were controlled separately.
it has another 14/2 that goes to the heated tile floor thermostat about 8 inches below the switch box.
all neutrals tied together in one wire nut.
all grounds tied together in a wire nut.
the fan timer switch was acting funny…had to press it in just the right way to get it to work. The dimmer switch was no problem.
I replaced the timer switch, wiring it the same way at the one that came out.
black to the incoming black.
white to all the other whites
red to the black going to the fan
ground to all the other grounds
i turned the breaker back on…the fan works, but the lights did not. The thermostat for the floor came back on. In addition, the kitchen lights (same circuit) also did not work.
I removed the dimmer switch to check nothing came loose. I thought maybe with the pushing of things back into the box that something came out of a wire nut. Nope, all wires still attached.
I disconnected the dimmer and hard wired the switch to the incoming power. Breaker back on….bathroom lights work, kitchen lights work. Fan works.
I wire the dimmer back in, but reverse the two leads between the load and line because there’s nothing to indicate it matters. Flip the breaker back on: the fan works, the bathroom lights kinda work…and the slider also dims the kitchen lights, but in an eerie flickering kind of way.
ive now bought a new dimmer switch, but haven’t tried to install it yet. everything was working fine before I replaced the timer. What is happening that the kitchen lights can be affected by this dimmer and how did replacing the timer start this?
I don’t know how the kitchen lights power is routed. It does not seem that the kitchen light power is run through the bathroom switch box based on the wire count. No other lights in the house seem to be affected.
my plan is to replace the dimmer temporarily with a on/ off switch just to see what happens.
both the timer and dimmer switches are Lutron brand with pigtails coming out of them. They do not have screw terminals like a conventional on/off switch.
the box has the power coming in. It has 14/2 going to the light, it has 14/3 going to the fan with the red wire not used…not sure why 14/3 was used, perhaps it had a timer/light at some point and they were controlled separately.
it has another 14/2 that goes to the heated tile floor thermostat about 8 inches below the switch box.
all neutrals tied together in one wire nut.
all grounds tied together in a wire nut.
the fan timer switch was acting funny…had to press it in just the right way to get it to work. The dimmer switch was no problem.
I replaced the timer switch, wiring it the same way at the one that came out.
black to the incoming black.
white to all the other whites
red to the black going to the fan
ground to all the other grounds
i turned the breaker back on…the fan works, but the lights did not. The thermostat for the floor came back on. In addition, the kitchen lights (same circuit) also did not work.
I removed the dimmer switch to check nothing came loose. I thought maybe with the pushing of things back into the box that something came out of a wire nut. Nope, all wires still attached.
I disconnected the dimmer and hard wired the switch to the incoming power. Breaker back on….bathroom lights work, kitchen lights work. Fan works.
I wire the dimmer back in, but reverse the two leads between the load and line because there’s nothing to indicate it matters. Flip the breaker back on: the fan works, the bathroom lights kinda work…and the slider also dims the kitchen lights, but in an eerie flickering kind of way.
ive now bought a new dimmer switch, but haven’t tried to install it yet. everything was working fine before I replaced the timer. What is happening that the kitchen lights can be affected by this dimmer and how did replacing the timer start this?
I don’t know how the kitchen lights power is routed. It does not seem that the kitchen light power is run through the bathroom switch box based on the wire count. No other lights in the house seem to be affected.
my plan is to replace the dimmer temporarily with a on/ off switch just to see what happens.
both the timer and dimmer switches are Lutron brand with pigtails coming out of them. They do not have screw terminals like a conventional on/off switch.