I need some help.
I want to replace the 2 old switches, fan + light, by 2 Leviton decora 1 way switches.
I am confused by the wires (see attached pics), especially by the black one that goes from one switch to the other, like a loop. Also I do not see any green/ground wire. The Leviton switch has a spot for that, I guess I should use.
How to connect the wires properly?
Please help.
Thanks in advance for a reply.
Electrical – Need help replacing 2 switches, fan + light
electricalwiring
Related Solutions
So I cut the diagram out of the PDF instructions
The reason for the red and yellow is that this is really two switches. The yellow is for your light and the red is for your fan. There's two for each, should you want to 3-way both.
The catch here is not the 3-way setup, but how you will get two hots to the box. You need one hot for the light, one for the switch and your neutral. Assuming you do, you'll take the yellow wires and attach them to the white and red that the previous 3-way used.
Congratulations, you've created a short-circuit. You've connected the ungrounded (hot) conductor directly to ground through the switch.
the reason the second switch caused the breaker to trip, is because it was toggled in the "correct" orientation. If the other switch had been toggled, it to would have tripped the breaker.
What you need is a single pole switch, not a 3-way. Then you'll connect the green wire to the green grounding screw, and the hot wires to the other brass colored screws.
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Best Answer
The wire that "loops" between the two switches is the hot wire from the power source. This is the same as having a single wire with 2 pig tails that connect to each switch. Since you're replacing two single-pole single-throw (SPST) switches with two of the same types, all you need to do is replace them with the exact same wiring that currently exists. There is no hot/neutral to these switches, so as long as you connect to the two screws on each switch, you will be OK.
For the ground, in the pictures you can see the bare ground wires (with some paint on them) with a wire nut at the very back of the electrical box. You can and add in two pig-tails in order to connect to your new switches ground terminals. In your particular case, since you have a plastic electrical box, you should definitely connect this wire. If your box was metal, then the switch would be grounded just by making contact with the electrical box (assuming the box were grounded).