The new timer is a GE Pushbutton Timer, made for lights or fans, and it says on the package "no neutral wire needed". It has black (hot), red (load), and green (ground) wires. In the wall I have wires for both the light and the fan switches. Two black go to the fan switch, white wires are just bundled together, and ground wires are bundled together (not connected to switches). The instructions say the ground wire must be connected for the timer to work.

Thanks, jmvd20. I'll pick one up and give it a try. Ronnatalie - I did that, but the inner workings of the timer are still moving, and you can actually hear it through the drywall when you're in the finished part of the basement. I'd rather get rid of all moving parts that are no longer necessary.

Thank you for your suggestion. I will check it out. By the way, I have just learned from someone about this timer: http://intermatic.com/Products/Timers/InWallTimers/Electronic_Timers/EI200_Series/EI205W.aspx Two people have now told me that this timer is really good! I looked up customer reviews on Goggle and could not find anyone with a bad comment. People seem to like it.

helpmeplease- I didn't suggest connecting the two black wires together! I suggested putting one of the black wires from switch #2 on one terminal of the timer and the other one to another terminal. Now that we know what timer you are using, I still think that, but I also realize I misread your original post. You've got 4 wires on the timer: green goes to grounds, white goes to whites. Looking at the instructions for the switch, it looks like the black wire on the timer is connected to the black from switch #1, and the red from the timer connects to the black going to your lights. Re-reading your original post, I would have connected it the way you did, but the instructions seem to suggest that you had the red and black wires on the timer reversed. If that doesn't work, you may have a bad switch. Here is a link that might be useful: Timer This post was edited by kudzu9 on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 13:50