porchlight doesn't work?

Question

My porchlight has nerver worked since I moved in. I decided to fix it, assumed it was a lose wire on the switch. Upon removing the plate cover, I see that the porchlight wiring in not conected to the switch at all, and all three wire from the porchlight are bundled together with a wire cap. My problem is all three wire are the same color (Beige) and the same size. How to I know which go to the hot side of the swich, which is the neutral, and which is the ground? They all look exactly the same. And I have a new light switch with 3 screws for wires on it, and the old one only has 2 screws. So on the new switch, which is neutral, the top screw, or the bottom screw? And which is ground?

Answer 1

You will need a multimeter. I cannot stress this enough....EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION WITH ELECTRICITY!!!!

now, what you will need to do make sure the switch stays off (tape) and put your meter on A/C volts. Put one lead on the switch box (given it's metal, if not put the lead inside the wire ut for the neutral) and the other one to a screw on the old switch. If you read 0v, try the other screw. It should read 110-120v. If it doesn't, then you have no power to the switch which is a whole other problem.

The one that oiginally read 0v is your hot to the fixture.

Next, turn off the power to that fixture and put the meter on ohms/resistance. Take the wire nut off the neutral and untwist the bundle. cap off the ones from the house and tape off the one going to the fixture. If you can tug the wire and see it in the porch box, do so. If not put the meter lead on the metal box and to the remaining wire. One will give you "OL" and one will give you some kind of reading. The one that gave you OL is the neutral. The one that gave you a reading is the ground. Mark these wires accordingly on both ends.

Now onto the switch. The top one or the bottom one can be used for the hot wire. A neutral is not broken by a switch, it just gets wire nutted together with the other neutrals and run directly back to the circuit breaker box. The other screw is for the hot wire going to the fixture. There is a 3rd screw on the new switch and it should be green. GREEN IS GROUND!!

Wire in the fixture according to instructions with the new fixture and restore power. If you did everything right, you will have a new working porchlight.

Answer 2

First lets look at the switch. If you have a switch with 3 screws you have a 3-way switch. This is used when the light is operated from more than one location. Thats not what you need. You said the old switch had only 2 screws. That is called a single-pole switch. Go back to the store you got it from and exchange it. NEVER put a ground wire (green or bare wire) onto a switch.
Second lets look at the light fixture. It sounds like you have an old light fixture. Your best bet would be to replace that when you exchange the switch. You can get a new one pretty cheap and you wont have to worry about the wiring. On the new fixture, the black wire is the hot wire, the white wire is the neutral wire, and the green (or bare) wire is always the ground. If you have any concerns, contact a licensed electrician.

Answer 3

If you are allowed to mess with these things, [in Australia it is a very serious offence to do so - we must get a qualified electrician] you will need a test meter so you will know which wire is which - hot, earth or neutral! Once you have determined this, you should be able to go ahead and fix your light. Obviously, if this doesn't help, you to, will need the services of an electrician. If you look closely at the new switch, you should be able to see stamped into it, the words or signs to indicate which is which - ground, neutral etc. Good luck!

Answer 4

Sounds like some good answers already. I agree with Jimmie C. Another person mentioned how to determine which wires are the hot and the neutral using a multimeter. Just be sure to verify that the power to the switch is off. If you have any problem, contact an electrician or a neighbor who is familiar with working on electricity. good luck.

Answer 5

call the city for help