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| Subject - Wiring out door lights | |
| crustyhelmet |
Hi guys- Just found this forum and was hoping you guys might be able to help. I'm a woodworker by trade and a little familiar with electric, but this has me wondering if I should just call an electrician. I wired two spotlights and a lamp post last weekend. Trenched the conduit, followed all the right rules. I ran the cable into the basement and here is where it sits waiting for power. I want to run it up to the switch that controls the porch light. At first I wanted to use the same switch, but now I decided to put it on its own switch. In this switch box is a switch for the porch light and one for the foyer light. I will take out the two gang and put in a three gang for the new switch. Question - can I use the power off the porch switch? The foyer switch has a black and white going into the back of the switch. The porch light switch has wires going into the back of the switch and onto the screw terminals. There is a total of four sets of wires coming into the back of the switch box - not inlcuding my new ones. How do I connect my new switch? Pigtail the black off the screw terminal of the porch light? Do I pigtail the white too? Can anyone explain this to me in simple terms or am I in over my head. This house was just built in Jan of this year. I have done some electrical work in the past so I have confidence in doing it. I just don't understand  . Is there a simpler way of doing?Thank you all very much. I am enjoying your forum. |
| JimmyDee | quote: Need to know what you mean, four sets of wires. Is that 4 individual wires or 4 cables with 2 wires in each? (don't count the bare wires) If there is only 4 individual wires, you probably won't get a feed from this box. If you have 4 cables, yes you probably will be able to do what you need to do. Either way, an electrician should be called to do the work. Jim |
| Richard | ok first you need to find out what light circuit in the panel box so that you can turn it off.Then what other lights goes off in the house when you kill that circuit You need to count all the lights the circuit. One light circuit has Nine lights on it maybe up to 11. If only then will you know that if can hook the new outside lights up to the existing cicruit that is there.. please reply |
| David Hyatt | The hot needs to jump off the old switch to the new switch. You could pigtail the hots instead of jumping off the switch. The white of the new wire will tap to the whites in the box not on the switch(if there are any). The remaining black should go to the other screw on the switch. All this is assuming power is fed directly to the switch. See Jim's post. And the circuit is not overloaded. See Richard's post. Let us know. |
| crustyhelmet | Hi guys - Thank you for responding. I appreciate it. There are 4 sets of wires coming into the box meaning there are 4 blacks, 4 whites, and four bare. One set is sent in to the foyer light switch. These wires are pushed into the back of the switch (not the screws) and that is it. Now the other switch in the box is where I want to pull the power from. It controls the porch light, two other outside lights by the garage and out back and two outdoor receptacle. They tie into a GFI in the basement. There are three white and three black tied to it - using the push connectors in the back and the screw terminals. I am pretty sure there is power in the one wire. My big question is how do I get the power over to the new switch I am putting in? Is it just a pigtail of the black? And just as important, do I return the wiring on the existing switches exactly as before, or will this new switch have an impact on the way the other two get wired. Lastly, if you guys think that this is risky or pushing the limits (of the wiring, not my skills  ) please say so. The location where I am bring the wire into the basement has the main panel about ten feet way, so I could easily run a new circuit. I am trying to save the space in the panel for a workshop expansion, but if this is the best way, I can do it.Thank you all once again. |
| JimmyDee | What it sounds like to me is that you have all switch legs in this box and no neutral. I think you will need to run a feed to this box if you want to power the yard light. Just having a hot wire there is not enough. You need both the hot and neutral to feed the light. If all the white wires in the box go to a switch, that tells me it is only a switch leg. If the whites were all tied together with no pig tail, that would tell me it was a neutral. Jim |
| crustyhelmet | JimmyDee- Ok - that is at least something that is within my scope - running a new wire. But just for my own knowledge, if all the whites are tied together, that is an indication that there is a hot wire present and, assuming other conditions are ok, it could be used to power another fixture? And if the whites are on the switch, it is a switching switch only? If the the whites are tied together is it a matter of tying the white one in and pigtailing the black? what is the process then? I am sorry for my ignorance and I very much appreciate the help. I have enrolled in an introductory electric class that starts in June. I am trying to get a handle on the basic principles. Thank you again. You are kind to help. |
| JimmyDee | I would say that if all the neutrals are tied together with out going to the switch, you could tie your new neutral to that one. Find the hot wire in the box and pigtail to that one and that will be the feed for the new switch. The new black wire will go to the other side of the switch. Should work. Jim |
| crustyhelmet | Thank you for the help. Much appreciated. |