double pole switch

I have just recently put in garbage disposal and only had one switch that was close enough for the disposal but it controled the light above the sink so went and got a double pole switch and wired the disposal that way but my question is when I turn the switch on for the light it stays on for a while then shuts off for a while then comes back on and this happens repeatedly and when we use the disposal all the lights in the living room and dining room blink for a sec is this OK or do I need to install a 2 seperate switches (wife won't be happy if I have to install a 2 gang box hates it when we have to cut the dry wall but oh well)
Thanks
Robin

 

I think you had better tell us how you wired the disposal. Did you run a new circuit for the disposal? Did you install an outlet under the sink? How did you run the wires? To the switch and then to the disposal/outlet? How did you wire this switch? Did you break either or both of the tabs?

I am very concerned that you might have miswired this switch, and it could be very dangerous.

By the way, you have two single pole switches, you do not have a double pole switch. At least I hope you do not have a double pole switch.

Personally, I would not run a disposal through a duplex switch, but that should not be an issue, if it wired properly.

 

ok first off I am a newbee to any electrical that doesn't require a battery so I am not sure that it is a double pole swith but its one switch with 2 poles so I took the black wire from the disposal and connected it to the bottom screw then I took the black wire from the light and connected it to the top screw (same side) and then connected the copper wire to the green screw and then cut 2 pieces of black wire connecting one piece to one screw and the other piece to the other screw and pigtailed then together along with the black circuit wire and pigtailed all white wires and yes I broke both tabs off

 

It sounds like you wired this disposal into the existing circuit for the light. Bad idea. It does not sound like this circuit has enough power for the garbage disposal and the other loads that are on it.

I would run a new circuit from the panel for the disposal. As an alternative, you could use the dishwasher circuit (if you have one), if the dishwasher is on it's own circuit. I would also install a separate switch for the disposal.

As for your wiring, you have two single pole switches. The two pigtails you added on one side of the switches do the same job as the tab connecting the top and bottom half. However, since I recommend two different circuits, you would need to break the tab if you insist on using this circuit.

My suspicion is that one or more of the connections in the switch box is not tight, causing the light to go on and off. The living room light dimming is caused by the current draw when the disposal starts up. This could be the same loos connection, or it could be the draw on the circuit.

 

Rather than a regular wall switch (known as a snap switch), you might consider a pneumatic switch for the disposal. On some of the houses I've done, there wasn't any place to install the switch for the disposal within a reasonable distance to the sink. With a pneumatic switch (which mounts in a hole in the deck of the sink), it's right there at the sink and you don't have to reach for it with dripping hands (always an uncomfortable thought to me). But you do have to have a hole in the sink deck available. The pneumatic switch device plugs into a regular receptacle and then you plug the disposal into the device. An air tube runs up to the push-button switch that mounts on the sink deck. I first saw these several years ago at The Great Indoors but have recently seen them at HD and Lowe's (as well as almost any electrical supply house). This switch is very much (if not exactly) like the switch used on a jacuzzi tub in a bathroom.

 

1) The strange behavior of the light above the sink is probably unrelated to the garbage disposal. Did you recently change the bulb? If so, you used too high of a wattage bulb. Change the bulb back to a 65-watt or 75-watt bulb.

2) The momentary dimming of the lights in the living room is typical when a large motorized appliace is used on a lighting circuit. Although the other suggestions for a separate circuit are good, the dimming is more annoying than hazardous.

3) Why does your wife hate it when you cut the drywall? Do you do a bad job of it? Too many people regard drywall as a sacred cow? It's no big deal. Lots of bad choices are made just to avoid cutting drywall. At any rate, the duplex switch is fine. In fact, the intuitiveness is probably better. Top switch for the light, bottom switch for the disposal. (Normally the switch farthest from the sink is the disposal, and the switch nearest the sink is for the light.)