I have a light switch in a bathroom that only controls the one light in the bathroom. The switch wore out, so I cut the power and pulled out the switch. Inside the box I noticed 3 Romex wires entering the box. I assume the third wire is a "load" carrying on the circuit down the line. I went and purchased a new single pole switch. Of course, it has two hot terminals. How should I wire this thing? How do I determine which 2 of the 3 black (hots) go to the switch terminals? And what do I do with the third black wire? I do have a voltage detector that will allow me to determine which wires are hot, so that shouldn't be a problem. The question is what to do with the 3rd black.

[left]I have been trying to diagnose a faulty circuit in my house and spent time in the attic ploughing through the insulation. I found a single wire from the panel spliced to two wires. The splice is wrapped in electrician tape and buried under blown insulation. Given that I need to open the splice to check ground continuity back to the panel, I want to replace the taped spliced romex with a junction box. Code states that access points need to be accessible without disturbing a building’s structure, however it seems that insulation is not considered part of the structure. Unfortunately, the wiring is not slack enough for me to position the new junction box other than under the insulation (I may flag it though for future access). all other boxes on the circuit are metal and grounded. So, should I use a metal or plastic junction box for under the insulation? If I use metal, I can ensure it is grounded via the splice. Thanks, Charlie[/left]