Nope, it’s not a joke with a punch line. But, there is finally an ending! Last night I decided to try a couple more things.
On the way home I went to the nearest Ace Hardware and was going to buy one of their switches so I could try a different brand. They had one that looked just like the first one I bought at Lowes, except it was in an “Ace Hardware” package. It was priced at $8. I was standing in the checkout lane and looked at it closer. It looked real familiar. Sure enough, it has the name “Eagle” on it. So, I looked at it even closer and it’s the same exact switch I bought at Lowes for $6! It’s just in an Ace package and priced higher. No wonder Lowes is putting these places out of business! I didn’t buy it.
So, when I got home I took one of the new switches I bought at Lowes on Monday, the “Decorator” one with rocker switches instead of toggle switches, and hooked it up. It’s all plastic and has no ground connection. It worked! So, I thought, ah-hah, I can’t use the type with the ground connection. But, I took the other new switches I bought at Lowes on Monday and hooked each one up, and they worked too. I left the last one in, which was the same type as the first one I bought at Lowes, and that’s the one I’ll keep (it was cheaper than the rocker type and I liked it better anyway). I measured from the ground on the switch to the box and there is 0V, not 125V like the other one had. So, the first new switch I bought is bad. The guy at Lowes says he’s never had anyone return a switch because it was bad before. Just my luck, I got the only bad switch Lowes ever had!
I went ahead and connected the black wire from the cable I pulled through on Sunday to the other screw on the switch (which not connected to anything at the other end yet, I have the ends of it wrapped in electrical tape until I install the new fan/light). I tested and measured everything and it all checks out, 0V where there should be and 125V where there should be. So, now all I have to do is install the new fan/light and connect the original white wire to the light and the new black wire to the fan.
Thanks everyone, especially Jerry, for all your help! Since I’m fairly new at this, I assumed I was doing something wrong and your help allowed me to realize it was the switch that was bad.
It’s still a mystery why the bad switch worked in the garage. It must be some intermittent short or something.
MossRoad,
“have you tried flipping the other switch? Or tried flipping all the combinations of both the switches? ”
That was a good suggestion, but I already tried that.
Andy ,
I didn’t know about those circuit tracing probes. That sounds like a useful tool.
ByuBill,
Yes, there is a ground on this switch that connects to a metal strap that goes behind it and to the 2 mounting holes. There wasn’t one on the “Decorator” rocker switch though, it was all plastic.
