Do it Yourself: Re: [DIY] Neutral Wire

16 April 2020

Re: [DIY] Neutral Wire

It may work and still be incorrectly wired. You need to make sure that the outlet is on the same circuit as the lighting circuit. It it's not you could overload the neutral if it's on a different circuit.

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On Wed, Apr 15, 2020 at 9:16 AM, Jerry Hnidy jhnidy@gmail.com [DoIt_Yourself]
<DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I did not mean to imply that there was a white wire inside the box containing the switch. There is not I am sure that power goes to the light and I break one side of the circuit with the switch. Only two wires in the switch box. When they are connected, the light comes on.

I SUSPECT that there is a white in a separate outlet below the switch. The question is if I can get to that white wire can I install my switch?

J Hnidy
the Villages, Florida

On Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 09:08 Ron Johnson l0c0l0b0@hotmail.com [DoIt_Yourself] <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

The bare wire is the ground, not the neutral. The NEC code now requires an active neutral in at least one switch in the room - whether it is used or not - for this very reason, but there are so many wired the old way that you may need to run a neutral.

You say there is a white wire in the switch box. Sometimes the power goes to the light (or outlet, if it is switch operated) then a pair of wires goes to the switch. The electrician is supposed to wrap the white wire with a different color tape (usually black, red, or blue) so it is not confused with the normal white common (neutral), but a lot of the handymen don't do that. If the white wire is connected to the switch itself, it is NOT a common.

If you are talking about the outlet itself, and the wire is connected to the left side of the outlet (the larger slot for the plug) then that is a neutral. You can test it by checking the voltage between the ground and each wire - you should get 120 on the hot and 0 on the neutral (sometimed you might get a low reading like 20 or 50, but that has to do with the fact that there are other things on that circuit).

Not knowing exactly the situation you've got, I can only say get an experienced electrician to look at it. If you are not familiar with electrical systems and methods, you can easily blow a circuit breaker or burn out the very items you want to install. Or worse, start a fire and the insurance company will probably refuse the claim since it was not done by a certified electrician.

From: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of Jerry Hnidy jhnidy@gmail.com [DoIt_Yourself] <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 10:02 PM
To: Do It Yourself <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [DIY] Neutral Wire

When I chose my new wifi wall switch, I read that I would require a neutral wire. Because I never ask enough questions and always jump to conclusions, I thought that meant the bare copper wire. The wiring diagrams prove that this is not the case and I am now one wire short. Questions:

Are they talking about the white wire that does appear in boxes that house outlets? If I am lucky and can fish a wire up from a wall outlet that happens to be near the wall switch, would that do the job? Would that pass code? Is there a better way?

Thanks

J Hnidy
the Villages, Florida