Wiring question

[Coach James]

I found a short in an electrical wire in a switch in one of our bathrooms. There are two switches. One turns on the fan and the other turns on the light. I cut out the wire with the worn through insulation and used a wire nut to attach a new piece to the old wire. I then wired two new switches up the same as the old ones were.

I checked the switches with my test light and the light only comes on when the switches are in the off position. If I turn the light on, the test light doesn't come on for the light switch. Same scenario for the fan switch. I'm sure there is something simple I am not getting, but what is it? Is there no current through the switch when the light and or fan is on?

I wired them up the same as they were when I took the cover off the box. On the left hand(fan) switch, both wires are black. One of them loops around a side terminal on the left hand switch then goes onto a terminal on the side of the right hand switch. The second wire coming into the right hand switch is a redwire.

Coach

 

[kbs2244]

Without being there to look at it, I think you have the looped black wire on the wrong terminal of the switch.
Switches interupt the current going to the load.
In your case the orginal wireing had the looped black as the supply to both switches.
It is always hot and, in effect, was jumpered to the hot side of both switchs.
That always hot wire should go to the terminal that is interupted when the switch is off on both switches.
Then the interupted wires are two colors so when you get up into the fixture box you know which is which.

 

[lbgradwell]

Can you post a photo Coach?

 

[Coach James]

I'll try to get a couple clear ones tomorrow and figure out how to post them.

Coach

 

[Mattlt]

... The second wire coming into the right hand switch is a redwire.

Coach

Are you sure you're not dealing with a three-way switch? How many screw terminals are on each switch? If there are three, it's a 3-way. Standard single-pole switches will have two terminals. The red wire comment throws me a bit... there are ways a red wire can be used in this situation, but they sometimes imply 3-way circuits.

I can't understand why you'd have power going through a switch when it's off. Is it actually labelled ON and OFF?

Switches do go bad. They are cheap to replace in order to rule out other problems.

 

[tfi racing]

Something's not the way it was!First determine which wire was looped to both switches,that is the 120V feed for the light and fan.The red is one switch leg,the remaining black the other.How many other wires are in the box(grounds dont count)that may help us sort this out.