3-way Switch To Always Hot Receptacle - Wiring Trouble

Hello I need seriouse help! In my situation I have a three switch, one for the light, one for the vent fan, and one for the heater. This is in a bathroom rent house. My problem is that when I turn the switch on for the light, the light and fan turn on, when I switch the heater on, that switch does nothing, the same when I switch the fan on. The wall plate is labeled: light, fan, heater. So what I attempted to do is put a switch outlet combo in. I have two black wires, two white wires and a ground. So I put the black wires on brass and the white wires on black,( they are black screws instead of silver, not sure if I got the right kind of switch). So when I did that, when I turn the switch on, the fan turns on, but no light, also when the switch is on the outlet is hot.( which fine that is how I want it). But what did I do wrong, why does fan work but not the light. I my biggest fear is that I might have made a fire hazard. Please help and tell me if what have done is safe, and maybe help me figure out how to turn the fan and light on with the same switch..  Thank you for all your input, have trouble falling asleep, keep thinking the house might burn down.. Sorry for the long post
      

Hi, I recently moved into a 1954 house with a  20amp electrical system, not the old fuse type, but there are no ground wires.



I removed an old light and replaced it with a light fan combo. As I removed the old light (after turning off the breaker) I noticed from the ceiling that there were 2 white wires tied together with a wire nut and 2 black wires, one attached to the white wire in the light and the other attached to the black one from the light. Feeling this was wrong and should be black to black, white to white, (even knowing full well the light was working fine before I disconnected it) I wired the fan the way I've always wired fan lights,  white to white, blue and black to black.  (again, knowing full well the light was working the other way). Turned breaker on then powered on switch. POP at the switch, breaker switched off. I reworked it back to the way it was before with whites tied off, black to white, black and blue to black, turned it back on and  viola, things worked fine. (I know, duh... Right???)

2 questions from this experience...

1. Why would the 2 whites be tied off with only black wires used?

And 2. It seems that one of the light switches in the same circuit as the blown one is now working soft. In other words, it used to make the normal click noise when turned on/off but now it just moves softly up and down without the click. Could I have damaged something when I mis-wired?
      

Greetings!

I'm hoping for some help, I bought a house recently where the laundry room light switch does not work. I found this in the ceiling box:



Two black wires capped off

One white wire capped off

Three white wires going to the fixture

Two black wires going to the fixture



I replaces the switch to rule that out and it still doesn't work.



There is one black and one white wire going to the switch.



Any ideas on how to wire it properly?



Thanks!
      

I have two 3-way switches in my master bath that have never worked properly. The house is very old and has been worked on over the years by many different people with greatly varying levels of skill. I was finally fed up with these switches and tried to fix them. I tried to follow instructions I found online, so with the power off I disconnected all the wires from both switches, then turned the power back on and used my volt-meter to discover which wire was hot. It turned out to the a red wire at switch #1. The other two wires are white and black (and yes, there also is a ground). I connected this hot wire to the darkest screw, connected the white and black to the other two screws and tried to test for continuity at the other switch. I couldn't get a reading on any of the wires at the other end. I tried turning the power back on and testing to see which wire was now hot at the second switch. It was the white wire, so I attached that to the darkest terminal, and attached the red and black to the other two terminals. The switches don't work any better than they did before I started - that is, both switches have to be turned on for the light to come on. What is my problem here? Thank you!
      

I have an outdoor light fixture that I am trying to replace.  The house was built ten years ago.



When I removed the original lamp, I noticed one of the two leads was wired to the ground, and one was wired to the black wire, which is hot per my current sensor.  There are three wires in the box - black, ground (bare copper), and white or neutral, all from a single romex cable.  Unfortunately, I do not recall where the white was when I removed the original. 



I wired the new lamp per the instructions, something I have done many times before - black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Nothing.  The lamp and bulbs are brand new, and I have tried four separate bulbs.  I checked the black and neutral with my current sensor and with the switch on and the lamp installed this way, both show as hot. With the lamp not installed, the switch on, and the wires disconnected only the black shows as hot.  The switch is single pole, and appears to be wired correctly with a black to each screw on one side and a copper ground on the other.



Assuming the new fixture was bad, I reinstalled the old fixture correctly -  black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Still nothing. No light, and I confirmed the bulb is good by putting it in another lamp.   The only way to get it to light is to connect the neutral in the lamp to the bare copper ground.



I capped the wires, turned the circuit back on, and identified all the outlets, switches and fixtures on the same circuit.  I opened every one of them up (four lights and eight outlets) and found three (one switch and two fixtures in another room) where multiple commons connect.  All were properly connected.  My outlet tester shows all outlets as "correct".  I found no instances of grounds connected to commons or vice-versa.



Any ideas?  Is it proper to wire this thing the way I found it?



Thanks for any and all advice!
      

This should be simple but . . .



I am replacing a couple old 3 pole switches with 2 new decorator switches. First switch I rewired exactly like the old one black on black pole, a second black on brass pole on the same side, and red on the pole on the other side.



I rewired the second switch exactly like the old one was too.  White on black pole (I know ) red on the brass pole on the same side, and black on seperate pole on other side.



light will turn on and off from first switch but only off from second and will not turn on from first switch if second is turned off.



so I rewired second switch with balck on black pole, white on top brass pole, and red on seperate pole.  Nothing changed.



Do I need to test which wires are actually connecte to each other in the wall or what?



thanks for your electrical wisdom
      

Recent change the switch and outlet. Now th outlet dims the lamp when turned off..  The switch has two black. The outlet has one black and two white. A black and white on one side and one white on the other. This was changed by my brother and i did not see th original wiring.
      

Hello all, and thank you in advance for any help you can provide! Here is the deal I wanted to put a bathroom exhaust fan in and was told I could come off the existing switch to cut the wire, install a junction box, tie the wires all back in adding the wires for the fan. Trouble is the bathroom light stays on with the switch off. Turn the switch on light dims and the fan now runs, switch off fan shuts off light goes bright used black to black white to white where oh where did I go wrong!?
      

I am trying to install a SunSmart Digital Timer to my hall lightswitch (single pole). The timer has 5 wires: Black, White, Blue, Red, and Green. My switch box only has 3 wires: Black, White, and the bare ground wire. I connected the black to the black, white to white, and green to the bare ground. I have power to the timer but the light doesn't work. What should I do with the blue and red wires? Right now I have each capped off. Thanks.
      

I had a previous thread about bonding my inground pool. I had it done yesterday. I set up all the plumbing for my filter and I am going to wire it up tomorrow.

This pump was wired up once before and it is being moved. All the wiring was removed when the contractors were breaking up the concrete. It has a 25 amp breaker that I am going to replace with a GFI 25 amp breaker. I am going to wire it from the breaker box to a switch (1 foot from the box) to the receptacle about 45 feet away. I am going to use 12 gauge solid wire. I am not sure which would be better. Should I use 12/3 romex and use one as the ground or use 3 separate wires colored white, black and green. Also they had the green wire going to the ground bar in the breaker box. I guess I will attach the green(ground) wire to the ground bar and then run it to the green lugs on each receptacle.  Also which types of boxes would be best to use metal or plastic. I am going to be using plastic pipe to run the wires.