I have installed two LED pots in parallel, controlled by SPST switch. The lights are from Amazon (China?), the 14/2 wire and 200a Siemens panel are from Home Depot. The 15a breaker came with the panel.
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I wired the lights by pushing the 14/2 wires into the supplied "auto-crimp" connectors.
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I wired the switch(es) by adding 6" leads to all four poles. Both grounds were connected to the box and I used a marette to connect the ground from the switch.
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Neutral / white was connected with a marette between switch, panel-wire and load-wire.
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The panel-hot wire was connected to the bottom pole with a marette, and the load-hot wire was connected to the top pole with a marette.
If I turn the breaker on while the switch is OFF, the breaker immediately trips. If I turn the breaker on while the switch is ON, the lights turn on and everything looks good. As soon as I turn the switch off, the breaker trips. I changed out the switch, and the behaviour is consistent.
I have never seen this sort of behaviour. Where should I start looking?
Best Answer
Wiring a neutral to a switch would be impossible without making it non-functional, unless you used a 3 way switch instead of a standard one. That would also explain the behavior. if there are three screws on the switch, you used the wrong type. The Neutral should not go to the switch, EVER.