I just bought a house that had been remodeled either by a previous homeowner who never read a manual in their life or a contractor who never learned to do stuff right the first time. I have a low mounted light in my hallway that has a standard single pole switch at on end of the hall and a dimmer at the other near the light. I want to remove the single pole switch because we always turn the light on and off at the dimmer. The previous person did not wire a ground to the dimmer and you could get a shock at the wall plate (they put metal covers on for an industrial look.) Looking at the wiring, I have a red (switch, I presume) white (neutral), and a black (hot) What do I do with the wires at the other switch? . There is a bare ground wire that I can connect to. The dimmer is a Leviton DSL06
You have a three way dimmer and a three way switch..... not a single pole switch.
Look at the three way switch. It will have one dark/black screw and two brass screws.
The dark screw is common and the other two are travelers. Connect the common wire to one of the travelers. Cap off the unused traveler.
At the dimmer end...... look for the two traveler wires. They will both go into the same cable. You will capping off the same wire you capped at the switch end. The remaining traveler stays connected to one of the red wires. Cap off the spare red wire. That should do what you want.
If it doesn't..... post a picture of the wiring at the dimmer end..... how-to-insert-pictures.
The previous person did not wire a ground to the dimmer and you could get a shock at the wall plate (they put metal covers on for an industrial look.)
This is certainly concerning, is it more than just a static shock after walking across the carpet?
I want to remove the single pole switch because we always turn the light on and off at the dimmer.
Why? Code requires a switch at each entry point for the hallway. If the switches are wired properly, you should of course just be able to ignore it. I'm guessing - but is it wired so if one switch is turned off, it can't be turned on at the other switch? This is probably miswired using single-pole switches instead of three-way switches. It can be fixed easily by using the correct switches (as Pete mentioned above)
So, 1) I have tile all throughout the house, no carpet to build up static, 2) The switch at the other end of the hall way is not a three-way; if it is down (off) the light doesn't come on no matter what I do to the dimmer switch. Maybe I just need to go get a three-way switch and put it in...
You've mentioned three wires. If it's only a single pole switch.... two wires would have to be connected together. Without actually seeing the wiring.... we can just guess.
Sorry it took me so long to get to this, I was busy with my bathroom remodel. Here are the pictures of the wiring, as well as the switch I took off the west end of the wall as compared to a three-way switch.
As you can see, the three-way is distinctive. The left switch is the one that was already installed, the right switch is a three-way that I just bought to replace it.
Same as the other, just the other side.
The wiring on the west end of the hallway where the three-way goes.
This is the wiring for the dimmer switch. The other switch goes to the garage light.
Another view of the dimmer wiring.
Last edited by PJmax; 03-06-21 at 12:58 PM.
Reason: cropped/enhanced/resized pics
If the black and white come from the same jacket.... then connect the dimmer to them.
Don't connect the red, white and black and the other end will have no control.
I am installing a switch where one currently does not exist. My power source comes INTO the fixture on the ceiling. With a single pole switch this is not problem to drop a wire and switch it at the wall. However, I thought it would be cool to use this:
Maestro 2 Amp Motion Sensor Switch, Single-Pole, Light Almond
https://www.homedepot.com/p/203202140
there are wiring instructions on the page. Anyway, I’m 99% sure there is no way to make this work without the power source coming into the switch box, but I wanted to check to be sure.
I have 2 outdoor lights on the same circuit, controlled by a single switch inside the front door.
I removed one of the lights to replace it with a nicer one. Then decided not to do it.
I hooked the old light back up as it was. Black to black and white to white. Now, neither of the lights work. I have 120V on the black wire with the switch on, but neither light works. Breakers and GFI are fine. I’m using a no touch probe to test for voltage. I did nothing to the other light on the circuit, so haven’t checked it. No need, I think. All was working fine before removing and reinstalling the one light. Any suggestions are appreciated!
02-16-21, 06:25 PM
