I have a two switch panel and one switch goes nowhere. The other switch turns on two lights. I'd like to make one switch go to each light Independently. That's not an issue. But the dead switch has wires connected. A red (that gets no power), a white, and a ground. From the same main wire, though, is a capped black wire (hot). I tested them all.
Is this safe? I have no idea what else the cable is connected to.... nothing? Can I safely disconnect and cap the red and white and use the switch?
Thanks, Jeffrey
Last edited by PJmax; 08-06-21 at 07:04 PM.
Reason: cropped/labeled pic
I took the liberty of clarifying your picture.
We see three cables.
Cable A is power in to left switch. Cable B is switched power out from the left switch.
(could be reversed. can't tell from picture)
Cable C is a three wire cable. You said black is hot. The switch does nothing. Sure you could take the red and white wires off the switch and cap them off like the black wire.... but what then ?
Since you have only one cable out to the lights (A or B)..... the lights are combined at the first light. You'd need to get a wire from that light to the switch box in order to use both switches. That is not as easy as it appears.
I assumed cable A went to one light and cable B to the other. Is that a poor assumption?
Also, you say what then about capping the red and white. But if But have no power and the switch effects nothing, is there any reason to have them attached to a switch? That's a legitimate question, btw. There may be a reason but I don't know enough to know what that could be.
Trying to install a timer switch in place of a regular switch that connects to an exhaust. I bought this Woods 15 amp 30 minute digital timer switch. Based of my research online and the spec I need to ground the switch. How we my switch box does not seem to have an explicit ground. What can I do to resolve this ?
(P.S: this is the timer switch I am trying to use : [url]https://www.homedepot.com/p/Woods-15-Amp-5-10-15-30-Minute-In-Wall-Countdown-Digital-Timer-Switch-White-59007WD/203638983[/url])
[img]https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/img_20210725_115050_2cb7c514c405f7e5ae979b5d27febf20d79e7c58.jpg[/img]
[i]No ground[/i]
[img]https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/img_20210725_115107_76875acbaeea38f35317df7f8f895b02f374212c.jpg[/img]
[i]Right side is the switch I am trying to replace.[/i]
[img]https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/img_20210725_114942_af7df2f6845c69a066f1d9c17ed8b36b8f074b71.jpg[/img]
[i]No ground either[/i]
Hello all - I'm adding a ceiling fan to a living room and I'm having trouble finding an accessible power source. I do have a switch next to where I want to add the new fan switch. It powers an existing ceiling light fixture, but it's an end-line switch, so I can't pull power from that existing switch box. My thought is to disconnect the power (which must be directly connected to the existing ceiling light), install a junction box in the attic to house that power source, and run two new cables from that source - one back to the existing ceiling light and one to the new ceiling fan switch. This power source is far and away the easiest to access in this area. Does this sound like a reasonable plan, or am I missing something? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
08-06-21, 12:23 PM
