weird house wiring problem

   / weird house wiring problem #11  
beenthere,
Maybe I have misunderstood, but I think he has only one cable coming into the switch box. The "back-feeding" of the switch is being done in a junction box or the light box itself.
 
   / weird house wiring problem
  • Thread Starter
#13  
Beenthere,

“For your safety, get some help.”

I am asking everyone I know and posting here!

“The three wires you describe - black, white, and bare copper - are hot, neutral, and ground in a 2 wire w/ground cable.”

Yes, that is exactly what I have.

“The black should feed one side of the double switch connected by a strap.”

Again, that’s exactly what I have.

“The other side of the switch should have two separate terminals - one for each switch. From each of those terminals should be a black wire running to the fan, and another black (or red) wire running to the light. These are hot when the switch makes them hot.”

I have not yet installed the new fan/light, the original light is still in place. I also have not connected anything to the new cable I pulled through. All I’m doing right now is trying to make one of the switches in my new double switch work in place of the original single switch using the original wires. I don’t understand what you mean when you say to run a black wire to the light (or fan), because I’ve already used the black wire that’s in the cable to connect to the “feed”/“line” (hot) side of the switch so all I have left is the white wire.

“Be safe, and know what you are doing, and do not guess.”

I appreciate your concern. Believe me, I am being careful. I’m just getting ideas from people and hoping someone will say something that will make me say to myself “oh, that’s it!”. When I get this all done I plan to use my volt meter to check for voltage between the metal casing of the light and ground.
 
   / weird house wiring problem
  • Thread Starter
#14  
MossRoad,

I have not yet installed the new fan/light, the original light is still in place. I also have not connected anything to the new cable I pulled through. All I’m doing right now is trying to make one of the switches in my new double switch work in place of the original single switch using the original wires.

However, I am planning to do it like the diagram on the bottom if I ever get this figured out.
 
   / weird house wiring problem #15  
My apologies for getting a little too excited. I have re-read your original posts after getting your responses to me, as well as the others, and now agree that something seems to be wrong with the switch. Can you get a continuity check using the ohmeter across the new switch?

I now understand what the Inspector was saying to you, and MossRoad's diagram should be the correct way to go, as you intend.

As far as digging for the junction box, even in '76 the wiring code (if followed) would suggest the connections should be in the light, and not in a hidden junction box.

I will bow out, as it looks like you are in better hands with the help from the others. Hard to do this by long distance, but you will prevail.

Good luck.
 
   / weird house wiring problem #16  
Exactly how many of each color wire do you have in your switch box. In a normal single pole light switch box there will be two 14-2 wires coming into the box. Each will have one black, one white and one copper. You would then hook up your hot black to the side of the switch with the strap and then there should be a black wire that continues on to the light. That black wire would be connected to one of the two screws on the dual output side of the switch. Both white wires are then connected with a wire nut and the copper bare wires are connected and pig tailed to the metal box. If you don't have two black wires in the box I a little confused on how it was originally wired.

Jeff
 
   / weird house wiring problem #17  
Sounds like you've got a good handle on the way it is supposed to work. I eagerly await your findings with the different switches. Good luck and let us know what you find out.
 
   / weird house wiring problem #18  
Danny,
There is a good possibility that the "junction box' is the light box. Hopefully they did not send the black down as hot and the white back as the return. But they may have. I bought a house built in '64 and the idiot that wired it switched the neutral at all the lights. Thats begging someone to get hurt. I have switched everything around to the proper way ( I think). Feel free to call me if you want to. I will send the phone number in a message to you if you want it.
 
   / weird house wiring problem #19  
If he has only one piece of Romex in the box than Jerry (inspector507) is correct and it has been backfed. If this is indeed the case, the switch box has no Neutral in it, it is up in the light, the hot leg is coming down from the light on either the black or the white and than traveling through the switch and back to the light on the opposite conducter.
Depending on how the electrition was tought back when it was originally wired, he could have either made the black or the white his hot leg. If I remember right, Danny said it was the black that was hot in this case. My father who was a Master electrition for 30 yrs. tought me in this case to take the white wire, which would now become hot when you flip the switch and identify it as such with tape.
Before I installed the new switch again, I would take an ohmmeter and identify which screws work with which switch.
The hot screws will be easy to identify for they are connected with the breakaway tab.
 
   / weird house wiring problem
  • Thread Starter
#20  
Hopefully there’s an attachment with this post. It shows the way other lights in my house are connected. Is this what you are calling a “back-feed” or “switch loop”? But, these lights are in a room addition, and not part of the original house. This bathroom light is in the original part of the house, so it was probably done by a different person and it might be wired different. I need to get my volt meter and do some more checking to see if the bathroom light is wired backwards.
 

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