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Electrical Wiring

Removing old heater/light for recessed and outlet.

7 years ago

Contractor question.

I'm replacing a light that had a heater in it. The fixture used two switches one for the light one for the heater. In its place I'm putting an outlet and a single switch for the new recessed lighting.

Okay if your still with me. The picture shows 4 sets of wires. The left most is power coming into the box (power to the soon to be outlet?). The next over on that side is a connection from the first set to the power fed into the third set (power into what would be the switch). The fourth set travels up to the lighting.

Before I attempt to wire this up and turn power back on. Is this correct?

Comments (2)

Ron Natalie
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I only see three cables in that box, so I'm a bit confused about the reference to four. Anything is possible. You really should have investigated this before removing the switches. As it is you'll have to trace out things rather than making assumptions.

I do note a couple of issues (other than the crappy drywall work). The box looks to be set too far back to be legal. The box needs to not be set back within a 1/4" of the finished surface.

Another clue is the presence of black tape on the white wire leads me to believe that this may be a switch loop (or some other circuit buggery) and not a feed from the panel or a direct line to the light or heater. Again, you'll need to check the wiring at the light/heater end.

The cable clamp for the left side/bottom cables appears to be missing (you need to put it back when you are done).

Further, if this circuit serves other rooms, you may NOT put a bathroom receptacle on it.

A further note, remember all bathroom 120V 15/20A receptacles require ground fault protection.
Ray Frisbee
7 years ago
Thanks for the help I think.

I noted everything but I had to remove a wire that was not needed. Just looking for a little advice before I hooked it all back up.

Everything is connected and working. Have a good one, thanks for taking the time to write.
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