hi all. it may take me a minute to explain the wiring here. i need to know if what i've wired is correct or at least functional and safe. i haven't installed the ceiling fan/light itself yet....just the switches for it. i have to finish up some ceiling work before i can physically install the fan.

my ceiling fan/light will be at the end of the circuit. i have a single 12/2 with ground line running into a dual switchbox. i have 2 single-pole switches. these switches have 3 screws - 2 brass (for the hot wire) and 1 green for ground. i want switch 1 to control the light. switch 2 to control the fan. i have a 12/3 with ground line running from the switchbox to the actual fan/light location.


the way i have it wired is as follows:
* black from the 12/2/G source wire goes into wiring nut with 2 other short lengths of black.
* the 1st of these short lengths of black goes into the bottom brass screw of switch 1. the 2nd of these short lengths of black goes into the bottom brass screw of switch 2
* the black from the 12/3/G fan/light wire goes into the top brass screw of switch 1. the red from the 12/3/G fan/light wire goes into the top brass screw of switch 2.
* the white from the 12/2/G source wire goes into a wiring nut with the white from the 12/3/G fan/light wire
* the bare from the 12/2/G source wire goes into a wiring nut with the bare from the 12/3/G fan/light wire
* NOTHING IS WIRED TO THE GREEN GROUND SCREW ON EITHER OF THE 2 SWITCHES
* i plan on wiring the black from the 12/3/G fan/light wire to run the light.
* i plan on wiring the red from the 12/3/G fan/light wire to run the fan.


obviously the part i'm unsure of is having nothing wired to the green ground screws on the switches. the only wires on the switches are the hot wires. is it functional and safe the way i have it wired?

thanks!

 

Use 2 short pieces of bare copper and pigtail them off the bare ground wire and attach these to the green ground screws on the 2 switches. If the box you installed is metal, it will also have to be bonded to the bare ground wire via the 10-32 tapped hole in the back of the box.

 

the switchbox is blue plastic.

when you say pigtail...do you mean literally just kind if wrap it around the other without using a wirenut or anything?

 

When I say pigtail, I mean twist it with the others and use a wirenut.

 

that was kind of the problem i ran into when trying to figure out how to do it. i had:

source bare -> 2 switches -> target bare

the wiring is 12 gauge and i can only get about 3 into a single wirenut. 4 would be out of the question. unless you're recommending the following:

source target
wiring nut wiring nut
short bare -> switch 1 <- short bare
short bare -> switch 2 <- short bare

this has 2 wires on a single screw on each switch though. is this possible?

what am i missing here?

 

A bigger wire nut!

 

Well said Donnie. Simple, accurate, and directly to the point!

 

oh, i think i've got it figured out where i can do it with only 3 wires per wiring nut...

my black/red/white wires are all set as is...just fine. i need to fix the bare situation, so...

wire nut #1
source bare
short bare to switch 1
short bare connecting wiring nuts

wire nut #2
target bare
short bare to switch 2
short bare connecting wiring nuts

does that look right? i think i just needed to draw it out on paper to figure it out.

 

Sound okay. Really goofy, but okay.

 

what's the right way to do it then?

the bare has to connect the following:
source bare...2 switches....target bare

i don't really see any other way to do it...

 

oh, i guess you all would just put all 4 in a wiring nut instead of the way i did it?

 

Most red wire nuts are rated for up to five 12-gauge wires.

 

got it! thanks. i'll just do that then. thanks alot for all your help!