Hello experts, I have a light switch in my basement which I need to disable and put a plain/flat cover on. The switch controls some lights that also have a switch at the entrance so this is just an extra on the other end of the room and I need to put some art over it so need the switch removed. I've read many different articles out there around how to disable/remove the switch and I am finding some conflicting info as well as confusing info as my wire colors don't align with some of the how-to's. So hoping you folks can help!

What I do know is I need to put a couple of the wires together (once I remove them from the switch and put a wire nut on them (plus some electrical tape) to keep it continuous (is that the right term?). There is a bare copper wire inside the box where the 3 wires come from that are currently plugged into the switch (see pic below). My questions are:

1. I have a black, red and 3rd wire which I can't tell the color but it's wrapped in painters tape. Which two are the ones I need to put together and wire nut?

2. What do I do with the 3rd wire and also the bare copper one inside the box?

Thanks in advance and apologies for the rookie questions. I'm a new home owner and learning the ropes...

Daniel

 

Is the black wire on a black screw while the other two wires are on brass-colored screws? Of yes, then you wire-nut the black and one of the other two wires, it makes no difference. The remaining wire gets a wire nut all by itself.

The bare copper, if a metal box, gets connected to the box. It appears that it may already be attached by a spring clip, I would need to see more pictures to be sure.

Did you get the other problem solved?

 

Awesome. Thanks so much, the black wire has a black screw. The other two are not clearly brass but not clearly black either but they are the same color. It very well could be brass and just dusty/old with some paint on it from past wall paintings.

As for the other (much larger) issue, I haven't had an opportunity to fix yet as I work from home and need the power on (my office is in the basement where the issue is). I will definitely keep the other thread updated with how it goes...thanks for following up! Love this forum.

 

When you connect the black (common) wire to one of the other two..... one will make the other switch work normally.... as in..... up is on and down is off.

If you use the other one of the two.... the lights will be on with the switch down. Just pick the wire that gives you the proper operation and cap off the extra one.

 

Thanks all...this one is resolved/addressed. Removed the switch, put wire nuts + electrical tape over the wires and put a cover on it. Thank you! (The other larger issue is still pending and I updated the thread with the latest.)

 

Thanks for letting us know how it turned out.Electrical tape is not needed if the wire nuts are correctly installed. Wire nuts are used instead of tape.

 

Ah, thank you...I'm a bit paranoid now considering my lack of judgement that got me into a couple messes already with our new house,