I'll start with, I'm not an electrician. I have wired several different outlets and switches successfully though. Every one of these boxes seemingly have different wiring and this one has me perplexed.
I am replacing two switches in the same box. There are three black wires and three white. Previously, all three whites were 'capped' with tape. The hot wire and another black wire were connected to the left switch. They then had a – I'll say an 'independent' wire – attached to the hot which was then attached to the switch on the right. The switch on the left operates my porch light and right operates a light post in my yard.
I'm asking how I can get the right switch to operate without doing what they did with the extra wire.
Best Answer
That extra wire was providing hot to the second switch. The preferred way to do this is to connect the hot wire to two short pieces of wire (“pigtails”) with a wirenut. Run these wires to the two switches.
Another way, which I would highly discourage, is to connect the hot to the screw terminal on one switch and the jumper into the backstab of that switch, using the internal metal of the switch to connect them. This is not recommended because many people have had problems with backstab terminal connections going bad.
By the way, I don’t like the unused neutrals being covered just with tape. You should use a wirenut on each. With a single wire, you don’t need to strip the end. Just screw it onto the insulation.