I just purchased a new home, and I decided to replace some of the switches in my Kitchen & Bathroom, I am having some problems.

I replaced the switches, and connected the wires to them exactly as they were previously. In my kitchen I have a combination outlet/single pole switch (which operates a light in my family room), and two three-way switches that operate a light in my kitchen. I also have a light switch in my bathroom, and a switch for an outdoor light, all on the same circuit breaker in the garage. When I replaced the switches in the kitchen, my bathroom & outdoor lights do not operate, nor is there any power in the outlet. The switch for the family room & the 3-way switches seem to work fine. I noticed that all the white wires are tied together in all of the boxes, except one white wire which was connected to the outlet/switch combo. Also, the two switches that do not operate have two black wires connected to them, instead of one black & one white. None of the original switches were grounded, but the ground wires are visible in the boxes in the wall. Are there two seperate circuits? Have I wired something incorrectly? I have tried wiring the combo switch differenly, but I get mixed results. I am sort of a novice with this, so please help!!

re: Switch problems	wirenuts	6:21 am friday september 7, 2001

Hello Northwaver ! let's see if we can talk you down here...

my first impression is that you have dropped a feed (hot wire) , to assess this you'll need to get a meter and determine where the juice is, and is not. You'll may also need to determine where the nuetral is, and is not. Remeber that just because something is not operational does not mean it is deenergized here, you may, if fact, have a hot, but no nuetral !

The white, or neutral to the receptale/switch combo is in fact a nuetral, but the switches that have a white & black are both hot wires, despite the coloring. These whites used as hot's are allowed if reidentified with colored tape (usually black)

The fact that you have a third, or bare , grounding conductor will make your assessment easier here. You should get the Nuetral (white) to bare (ground) reading of 0 ohms, and no volts to indicate a valid nuetral. You should get 120V from a black feed (or in the case of the swicth with the white hot) to ground or nuetral.

Always check for voltage first, then you can ohm out safely.... Let us know as you proceed here, i suspect the rec/sw combo is the culprit as the wiring can be confusing, maybe you could get back into it and describe your findings after you meter it out. Myself and others monitor this BB and would be glad to advise as you proceed.

hope this helps.....

re: Switch problems	JuiceHead	9:56 am friday september 7, 2001

A little clarification to Wirenuts' reply:

I would not test continuity (ohms) before testing voltage. And if you do test continuity make sure the breaker is definitely off and test for voltage before switching your meter to ohms or you could fry the meter using ohms function on wires that have live current.

Test white to ground and then black to ground and then white to black. You should not see voltage between white & ground in any case. If white is a hot going to the light fixture from the switch you will not see voltage between that hot and white. If white is a neutral you will see voltage from hot to white. Where you described a pigtail (a bunch of whites wire-nutted together with one short white coming out of that group and going to the device, this is normal and is a neutral. You should see voltage from hot to white but not from white to ground. Any wire that is a live hot (should be black) will register voltage from it to ground.

Another note, tne NEC now requires switches to be grounded. Use the available previously unconnected bare grounds to connect to the green screw on the switch's yoke.

Not sure I covered everything, but i hope that helps. Any further questions just write back.

Juice