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Electrical Wiring

From bathroom light to 2 lights & fan

14 years ago

I had 2 pairs of 2 wires running to the previously installed light, and the switch worked in normal up & down positions. My first assumption was that those who did the previous work had prepped it for two fixtures, based on the 2 pairs of wires, so I wired one pair to the shower light and one to the fan/light... result: shower light stayed on continuously, regardless of the switch position, and the fan/light did nothing. Then decided that the reason for the 2 pairs must be a looped circuit to the switch, so I clumped all my black leads together, and all white together (same as I found it, but one fixture added to the mix). Result: shower light and fan on the light& fan unit were on w/switch in down position. Moving the switch into up position apparently blew out the switch? Can no longer toggle it either direction. Resetting the breaker tripped off the main breaker for the house after creating a nice hum for a second. Obviously, I've created a problem.

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Comments (4)

randy427
14 years ago
What you have is one cable bringing in power and the other cable goes to the switch (a switch loop). By wiring the black from the switch to the black from the power (and the same for the whites), you created a dead short from hot to neutral when you turned the switch ON. This was NOT the the way you originally found it. You probably welded the contacts in the switch together when you turned it on, necessitating its replacement.
Turn off the bathroom breaker to be able to reset the main.
The way it should be wired, for both lights and the fan to be operated by the switch is:
Black from the power cable connected to the white from the switch leg.
Black from the switch leg connected to the blacks from the lights and fan.
Whites from the lights and fan connected to the white from the power cable.
All green and bare copper ground wires connected to each other.
ungrounded
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks SO much, Randy. I'm looking forward to trying this tonight. I had the original fixture down for over a month and forgot how I found it... which is a little concerning. There is no ground wire in the wiring in my house. Do you recommend inserting something into this loop?
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now my question about the pry answer. what doees the mean/ if ok with 20amp overload pretection? it means if the manufacturer of the light says to protect it with a maximum 15A OCPD, then you cannot put it on a 20A circuit. as far as simplifying answers, they have been dumbed down drastically already. if you cannot understand a particular response, ask for clarification. if you still cannot understand, then it is best to let a pro handle the job. fooling with electricity is not for everyone, no shame in that.
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randy427
14 years ago
No, but I'd secure the bare ground wires from the lights and fan to their respective work boxes.
ungrounded
Original Author
14 years ago
I'm up and running. :)
Thanks again.

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