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Electrical Wiring

proper single pole switch wiring

14 years ago

I'm installing a new switch for an overhead light. Is it OK practice to use normal two wire + ground (black, white and copper) between the fixture and the switch? So one leg of the switch is white and the other is black connecting to the feed (black) and the fixture (also black). The neutral feed connects to the neutral on the fixture (white to white).

The question is: Is it ok to use a white lead to connect to the black on the switch. I know functionally it's OK but is it an OK practice to do it this way or is there industry standard 2 black conductors with ground for switches?

just curious.

thanks

Comments (5)

hendricus
14 years ago
Yes. Connect the white of the switch leg to the power black. Connect the black of the switch leg to the black of the fixture. On the white switch leg mark each end with a black marker or tape to show it is a hot line.
texasredhead
14 years ago
That will not work. The purpose of a switch is to break the hot lead so both sides of the switch are black. The white neutral is wirenutted off. The ground is connected to the green ground screw on the switch. If the switch box is metal, a ground is attached with a green screw to the box and the two grounds are combined with a green wire nut and attached to the switch. Concerning the light fixture, it is wired normally with the hot, neutral and ground.
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That should say "rewired" not "retired" lol. Autocorrect... Anyway, yes, the switch for some reason runs that receptacle because it turns off the answering machine and shredder. No other switch controls the light in the hall other than the one in question. The switch in the office runs one of the outlets in the office double receptacle but not both, but the hall switch runs both of the receptacles in the office. The hall is very short - just off of the garage, so it wouldn't really need a second switch to run it. I could replace the hall switch with another three way, but then I would have to always have the hall light on so that the office phone would always be on. I suppose the easy way out would be to just plug the answering machine/phone into a different outlet, but the phone jack is located near the problematic outlet, so I'd have to get a long extension cord to run to a non-problematic outlet. The weirdest thing is how that hall light never ran the office outlet until we unwired and rewired the switch. We kept wondering why it was a three way switch if it only ran the light. It is so confusing!
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joed
14 years ago
That will not work. The purpose of a switch is to break the hot lead so both sides of the switch are black. The white neutral is wirenutted off. The ground is connected to the green ground screw on the switch. If the switch box is metal, a ground is attached with a green screw to the box and the two grounds are combined with a green wire nut and attached to the switch. Concerning the light fixture, it is wired normally with the hot, neutral and ground.

WRONG
Your power goes to the light and you have what is called a switch loop. You are fine.
Ron Natalie
14 years ago
There is an exception to the prohibition of using a white insulated wire for other than the grounded conductor for the hot feed to the switch on a switch loop BUT NOT THE RETURN fro the switch.
Billl
14 years ago
The "normal" install would be that you have live/neutral/ground coming into the box and live/neutral/ground coming out of the box. The neutral in will be connected to the neutral out. The live in will go to the switch and the live out will go from the other pole of the switch. The ground in will go to the ground on thee switch (and sometimes to the box) and to the ground out.

If the original live/neutral/ground is actually going to the fixture and not the switch, then you would have a switch loop. You would only have 1 set of wires coming into the switch box. The live would go into the switch. The white wire would be marker black and be connected to the out of the switch. It needs to be marker black to show it is being used as a loop of the live and not as a neutral. The ground would go to the switch and sometime the box itself. It is important to note that if you use a switch loop, the wiring at the fixture will be live even when the switch is off.

Either way works fine. Which one you use depends on where the power is actually coming from. If the rest of the circuit is in the wall, it is usually easier to use the first method. If the rest of the circuit is in the ceiling, it is usually easier to use the second method.

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