Im trying to change my light switch to a dimmer switch. However the wirings isnt what I had expected. There is an extra backstab wire aside from the hot and netural wire, there also no ground wire being used, and all the wires are the same color too.
What is that backstab wire for?
And is that exposed copper wire, inside the terminal, the grounding wire?
Why wasnt the white wire used?
Any advice or tips is greatly appreciated.
Best Answer
The backstab wire is a continuation of the hot ,black, wire probably to or from an outlet or main panel, Just wire nut it to the black wire from the screw terminal right next to it and the black wire from your dimmer.
The exposed bare copper wire is the ground wire.
The white, neutral, wire normally isn't needed when wiring regular dimmers or regular switches. It goes straight from the switch box to the fixture without being switched. If you were wiring up a smart switch, you would more than likely need the neutral.
Turn off the power before doing any work.