As I have mentioned in other posts of mine – I struggle with electrical work. Now, I have an issue. Today, I went to change a couple of switches from whatever they were to rocker switches.
Now when I opened it up in the first place I noticed, that the switches are connected by a wire going from the right switch to the left. When I went to change the switches I did my best to maintain whatever had been created in an attempt to ensure the new switches would work.
I then removed the wires from old switches and placed them as best I could on the new ones the one the left trips the breaker. Any ideas? I have tried everything I can think of…Before I changed the switches the lights worked, the breakers didn't trip and now they do and I am at a loss. Any suggestions or thoughts?
Below are pictures of the how they are currently.
EDIT 1:
As pointed out on the comments the red wire shouldn't be on the ground. Now, I have tried with it as described on the below photo. No matter where any of the wires have been connected it tripped. Thoughts?
Best Answer
WHY THE BLOODY GREEN BLAZES IS A RED WIRE ON A GROUND SCREW????
The answer is because you replaced a 3-way switch, and you do not know what a 3-way switch is or what that means, because you are lunging forward on these projects without nearly the adequate learning.
Nor do you know what a green screw means.
Further, you are prone to experimentation, in which you just toss stuff together and "try stuff". The problem with experimentation in electrical is there are many combinations that work and will kill you.
So please just stop.
If you insist, then please go to the library and read books on electrical-how-to, find a book that speaks to you, and read it cover to cover. Why would I advise that when Google is easy? Because Google gives you swiss cheese knowledge; it only answers what you ask, and doesn't tell you the 20 other things you didn't know to ask. You need a well-rounded primer on the subject so you aren't constantly tripped up on mistakes this dumb.
This isn't saving you any money. On selling the house, the buyer's or city inspector will detect one of the problems that "worked, but will kill you", and will inspect more closely and find more. You'll have to hire an electrician to bug-hunt all your mistakes, which is more expensive than just hiring it done in the first place. Especially because on simple stuff like this, a handyman will do.