Electrical question......

[CHCRandy]

I am remodeling a bedroom and decided to switch old wall plugs to new....I had one light switch that goes to a plug in and it never has worked, so I switched 4 wall outlets and that single way light switch. Now when I go to turn breaker back on......it hums and then trips.

Is there really a way I could have screwed this up? I mean the single switch had a red wire going to bottom and 2 blacks to the top.....I put new switch in same way. And the plugs had 4 wires, 2 blacks on one side and 2 whites on the other.

What the hell did I do wrong? Thanks!

 

[Jaybird1980]

I am remodeling a bedroom and decided to switch old wall plugs to new....I had one light switch that goes to a plug in and it never has worked, so I switched 4 wall outlets and that single way light switch. Now when I go to turn breaker back on......it hums and then trips.

Is there really a way I could have screwed this up? I mean the single switch had a red wire going to bottom and 2 blacks to the top.....I put new switch in same way. And the plugs had 4 wires, 2 blacks on one side and 2 whites on the other.

What the hell did I do wrong? Thanks!

Could only half the receptacle been switch controlled and the other half hot all the time? If so the tab between the screws needs broke otherwise you have two hot feeds.

Is it a 3 wire going to the plug? And it's black and red land on the switch screws?

 

[HoughMade]

Did you take the bridge off that connect the upper plug to the lower on both sides?

 

[CHCRandy]

Hough.......I did not break any tab off of anything.

Jaybird.......I think the light switch was meant to only control 1 or the 4 outlets.

I see what you guys are saying now.......so how do I fix this? How do I know which switch to break that tab off of?

I am an idiot.....I never even thought about that. The other bedroom is like that as well, and when you turn on light switch it turns on the one outlet where lamp is.

Thank you guys for your help.....

 

[Jaybird1980]

Hough.......I did not break any tab off of anything.

Jaybird.......I think the light switch was meant to only control 1 or the 4 outlets.

I see what you guys are saying now.......so how do I fix this? How do I know which switch to break that tab off of?

I am an idiot.....I never even thought about that. The other bedroom is like that as well, and when you turn on light switch it turns on the one outlet where lamp is.

Thank you guys for your help.....

Going to be hard without seeing it. Can you post pics of the switch box and the first plug box, and are all the plugs 4 wires?

Do you still have the old plugs to see if the tabs are broken?

Is it a 3 wire going to the plug from the switch?

 

[CHCRandy]

Going to be hard without seeing it. Can you post pics of the switch box and the first plug box, and are all the plugs 4 wires?

Do you still have the old plugs to see if the tabs are broken?

I will try to get a picture. I did just look at the old outlets and switch and they had no tabs. They are just the flat copper plate.....I think maybe I messed up the first outlet which is the one that should turn on when light is flipped on........but that outlet and switch has never worked since I have lived here.

 

[radar8756]

the Outlet controlled by the Switch will have a Extra Wire or two (they might share the Return)

You only have to Break the Bridge Tab on the HOT side (especially if they share the Return)

 

[CHCRandy]

Going to be hard without seeing it. Can you post pics of the switch box and the first plug box, and are all the plugs 4 wires?

Do you still have the old plugs to see if the tabs are broken?

Is it a 3 wire going to the plug from the switch?

OK, I pulled the wall switch and the first outlet on circuit. The switch has a red wire on bottom and 2 blacks on top screw. The first outlet has 2 white wires on right side of outlet, upper and lower screw and a single red wire on the left side upper screw, all 3 of other outlets have 2 blacks and 2 whites.

 

[Jaybird1980]

OK, I pulled the wall switch and the first outlet on circuit. The switch has a red wire on bottom and 2 blacks on top screw. The first outlet has 2 black wires on right side of outlet, upper and lower screw and a single red wire on the left side upper screw, all 3 of other outlets have 2 blacks and 2 whites.

It should only be neutral wire on one side and hot on the other. Usually the white is used as a neutral.

Sounds like the red is the switched wire and should land on the brass colored screw on the side you want switched. Usually the bottom for a lamp. Then the black makes the top hot all the time. The tab between them needs broken if this is the case


This is just a guess without seeing it.

 

[CHCRandy]

Where does that red wire go to? Back to the switch right?. It should only be neutral wire on one side and hot on the other. Usually the white is used as a neutral.

Sounds like the red is the switched wire and should land on the brass colored screws.

This is just a guess without seeing it.

Got it........I had the red wire going to silver screw, switched it and all is good now. Thanks for your help!

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

Got it........I had the red wire going to silver screw, switched it and all is good now. Thanks for your help!

Something my late father told me when I was in 4H Electrical... way back... "an easy way to remember is 'white wire goes to silver/brighter screw' , 'black wire goes to gold/darker screw'. FWIW... YMMV and all that...

 

[JettaKnight]

Something my late father told me when I was in 4H Electrical... way back... "an easy way to remember is 'white wire goes to silver/brighter screw' , 'black wire goes to gold/darker screw'. FWIW... YMMV and all that...

Hail Purdue.

 

[CHCRandy]

Something my late father told me when I was in 4H Electrical... way back... "an easy way to remember is 'white wire goes to silver/brighter screw' , 'black wire goes to gold/darker screw'. FWIW... YMMV and all that...

I always remember that by Black to Gold.....Purdue colors. I guess I still dont understand why it made a difference how I hooked that red wire up......but that sure fixed it.

Can you usually assume a Red wire is the same as a black wire? I hate electrical and usually dont do it, but I figured how can I mess up an outlet, well....I found out how, lol.

 

[Lpherr]

Something my late father told me when I was in 4H Electrical... way back... "an easy way to remember is 'white wire goes to silver/brighter screw' , 'black wire goes to gold/darker screw'. FWIW... YMMV and all that...

I was taught Black to Brass or electrocute your ass.

 

[Lpherr]

I always remember that by Black to Gold.....Purdue colors. I guess I still dont understand why it made a difference how I hooked that red wire up......but that sure fixed it.

Can you usually assume a Red wire is the same as a black wire? I hate electrical and usually dont do it, but I figured how can I mess up an outlet, well....I found out how, lol.

Any color, other than white(neutral) or green(ground), is usually a hot. Red and black are most common in residential.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I always remember that by Black to Gold.....Purdue colors. I guess I still dont understand why it made a difference how I hooked that red wire up......but that sure fixed it.

Can you usually assume a Red wire is the same as a black wire? I hate electrical and usually dont do it, but I figured how can I mess up an outlet, well....I found out how, lol.

That red wire is hot when the switch turns it on, from your description. So you were dumping a hot wire directly on the neutral wire.

I don't assume any colors anymore after seeing some of the crap I have.

When I do it the white is neutral unless marked with black tape. And the red is usually a hot when I do it. I have seen red used as a neutral before and not marked with tape.

 

[churchmouse]

I always remember that by Black to Gold.....Purdue colors. I guess I still dont understand why it made a difference how I hooked that red wire up......but that sure fixed it.

Can you usually assume a Red wire is the same as a black wire? I hate electrical and usually dont do it, but I figured how can I mess up an outlet, well....I found out how, lol.

You hit the Neutral/ground side of the breaker panel with a hot wire you big dummy.....


Love-ya man. You know I do.

 

[radar8756]

That is a difference between Electrical and Electronics

Electric -- RED or BLACK is HOT / Power ... White is Neutral / Return

Electronics -- RED or WHITE is HOT / Power ... BLACK is Ground / Return

 

[churchmouse]

That is a difference between Electrical and Electronics

Electric -- RED or BLACK is HOT / Power ... White is Neutral / Return

Electronics -- RED or WHITE is HOT / Power ... BLACK is Ground / Return

Thats DC voltage yes...???

 

[radar8756]

Thats DC voltage yes...???

Electronics is Mostly DC -- but the AC to the Power supply is Electrical Colors