However, I noticed that now the 3 switch plate in my living room no longer works correctly. The first two work..the ceiling fan and chandelier go on, but the switch that made the lamp go on no longer works. In fact, I put new illuminated switches in and the first two lite up, but the third one doesn't. What did I do wrong?
2007-10-09 12:55:24 · 5 answers · asked by Kiara 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
You have one of three problems which are all pretty simple. First, check the switch . Take the wire from the top and bottom of the switch and tie them together. If your light works, the switch is bad. If it still does not work, then you have one of the other two problems. You may have no power to the switch, which you can check with a voltage pen from Home Depot(usu. bet. $10-20) or a small multimeter from Radio Shack or similar store( usu. bet $5 - 30). With the voltage pen simply put it on the wire you want to know about and it will light up if there is voltage. If you choose the multimeter place one lead on the bare end of the wire you want to check and the other lead on the ground(bare copper) wire or the neutral (white) wire and place the meter on AC voltage and it should give you a reading bet. 108-132 volts(+/- 10% of 120). If there is no voltage check circuit breakers, and possibly GFCI's (the plugs with the test/reset buttons). If you do have power then check for the third possibility, bad Neutral. In the box where your switches are you should have several white wires all tied together. Make sure they have a good connection by pulling each wire individually while holding onto the wire nut that is holding them together. If they come apart, reattach them until they do not come apart when pulled. If none of these fix your problem, it might be time to call an electrician. Good luck and be careful. If you need any help you can contact me by email.
2007-10-10 02:55:10 · answer #1 · answered by ffemt6347 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Go to the switch that doesn't work and re-connect it. Take the wires loose and switch them around. Put the bottom on the top and the top on the bottom. You can turn the switch over to have it so the up is still on if you need to.
2007-10-09 13:37:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Bad connection or bad switch. Or the wrong type switch.
2007-10-10 14:55:30 · answer #3 · answered by John himself 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check the black wire on the switch to ensure it is connected prperly, as you did for the first two. O wire is either missing, or not connected. Also check to ensure all white wires are marretted together. you just haven't completed that one circuit, is all.
2007-10-09 13:08:58 · answer #4 · answered by Rawstuff 007 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Without knowing exactly how you wired it, it's hard to say. But, if you wired it exactly like the first two, maybe you have a defective switch.
2007-10-09 13:05:55 · answer #5 · answered by Paul in San Diego 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋