Help with wiring a closet door jamb switch.?

Question

My master closet already has a light and a switch. i bought this door jamb switch and I thought i had it wired properly, but the circuit breaker trips when i turned it back on.

There are currently 3 black wires and 3 white, plus ground. Three hot wires are tied together with one continuing on in the circuit and 2 going to the switch, one exits the switch and goes to the light. Pretty simple.

I cut a 4" piece of black wire and connected it with the blacks coming from the wall and the other end to the current switch. then i connected the black wire (from a new piece of romex) to the switch and routed the other end to the jamb switch. i connected all the neutrals in the original switch box and the other neutral to the neutral on the jamb switch. All the grounds are also connected. Turning the breaker on it trips immediately. i bought 12 ga wire thinking it was a 20 Amp breaker but it is only 15 amps?

Apologies if this is confusing, please answer this detailed.

Answer 1

You are pretty confusing but i will tell you that you have a direct short some where, eithier you hooked up a hot wire to a neutral wire or ground or you have a wire damaged some where . for the most part all your white wires should just splice through and go right to the light and not to the switch and the black feed should splice to any feed outs and the black wire comingfrom the light should go right to the swtich

Answer 2

You are pretty confusing.
1- A switch (on and off should have only 2 wires) !2 ga wire IS for a 20 amp circuit. [normally a lighting circuit is 15 Amps which is 14 ga wire].
2- If you are going to use the switch you have then you have to find out which of only 2 wires you are going to use. (Use a multimeter to find out which of two wires turn the meter on and off.
2-Cap off each of the remaining wires separately ( white - neutral wires don't usually show up in a switch box).
3- Power comes in to a switch from the breaker.
4- Power goes out from a switch to the black wire on the light fixture.
5-If the only wire from the switch that has power when the switch is turned on happens to be a white wire, then that's the one you have to use and it still has to go to the black wire on your light fixture.
Good Luck - hope this helps ! ! !

Answer 3

Closet Door Light Switch

Answer 4

These pieces of wood are called door stops they can be purchased quite cheaply from a builders merchants (probably under five pounds)and are sometimes sold as a set two long uprights and a short one for the top. These will be nailed with small oval nails and not glued gently prise off the long stops first with an old wood chisel and then the short over head piece and replace with the head first cut it to the same length and nail back in the same position then measure and cut the two long lengths and carefully nail these in the same position. Punch the nails below the surface and fill making certain that the door closes freely and doesn't bind on the stops.(the two long uprights of the frame are called jambs). Good luck

Answer 5

if your trying to turn one light on with 2 switches... you need to wire it for a 3 way circuit...

Answer 6

first a switch is a switch. hook up the new switch exactly the same way the old switch was hooked up. You don't need new wires yo don't need to change anything.