How To Rewire Outlet Controlled By Light Switch?

Hello I need seriouse help! In my situation I have a three switch, one for the light, one for the vent fan, and one for the heater. This is in a bathroom rent house. My problem is that when I turn the switch on for the light, the light and fan turn on, when I switch the heater on, that switch does nothing, the same when I switch the fan on. The wall plate is labeled: light, fan, heater. So what I attempted to do is put a switch outlet combo in. I have two black wires, two white wires and a ground. So I put the black wires on brass and the white wires on black,( they are black screws instead of silver, not sure if I got the right kind of switch). So when I did that, when I turn the switch on, the fan turns on, but no light, also when the switch is on the outlet is hot.( which fine that is how I want it). But what did I do wrong, why does fan work but not the light. I my biggest fear is that I might have made a fire hazard. Please help and tell me if what have done is safe, and maybe help me figure out how to turn the fan and light on with the same switch..  Thank you for all your input, have trouble falling asleep, keep thinking the house might burn down.. Sorry for the long post
      

I have an outdoor light fixture that I am trying to replace.  The house was built ten years ago.



When I removed the original lamp, I noticed one of the two leads was wired to the ground, and one was wired to the black wire, which is hot per my current sensor.  There are three wires in the box - black, ground (bare copper), and white or neutral, all from a single romex cable.  Unfortunately, I do not recall where the white was when I removed the original. 



I wired the new lamp per the instructions, something I have done many times before - black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Nothing.  The lamp and bulbs are brand new, and I have tried four separate bulbs.  I checked the black and neutral with my current sensor and with the switch on and the lamp installed this way, both show as hot. With the lamp not installed, the switch on, and the wires disconnected only the black shows as hot.  The switch is single pole, and appears to be wired correctly with a black to each screw on one side and a copper ground on the other.



Assuming the new fixture was bad, I reinstalled the old fixture correctly -  black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Still nothing. No light, and I confirmed the bulb is good by putting it in another lamp.   The only way to get it to light is to connect the neutral in the lamp to the bare copper ground.



I capped the wires, turned the circuit back on, and identified all the outlets, switches and fixtures on the same circuit.  I opened every one of them up (four lights and eight outlets) and found three (one switch and two fixtures in another room) where multiple commons connect.  All were properly connected.  My outlet tester shows all outlets as "correct".  I found no instances of grounds connected to commons or vice-versa.



Any ideas?  Is it proper to wire this thing the way I found it?



Thanks for any and all advice!
      

I only have one outlet in my living room and I need another one for sure. What are some ways I can do this?  There is not another outlet on the other side of the wall, we had a electrician come add a light with switch and he said something about closing off a line behind the switch box.  Is it possible to re-open that line? We also have a attic which I was told at homedepot is easy to do if you have another outlet in the next room you don't use. Any help is greatly appreciated!!
      

Hey guys and gals,



got a very odd dilemma, in my dining room there is a chandelier lamp that is controlled through a dimmer switch(even though it is not a dimmer). There is also a closet with a light switch as well.



The odd circumstance i am having is when the closet light is on(via its own switch), and you turn on the dinning room light, the closet light goes out. Then if you turn the dining room light off,the closet light turns back on.



The closest light switch has zero effect on the dining room light, the dining room light seems to have control over the closet light and dining room light.



Any ideas on a fix. I was thing just replacing the dimmer(once again does not actually dim) with a single pole interrupter. I just dont want to burn my house down
      

I replaced an existing light switch with a switch/outlet combo.  The outlet works and switch operates light only, all appears to be working.



I plugged in a 660W device into the outlet and the light starts to flicker when the device is on, when the device is off, light stops flickering.



If I move the 660W device to an existing outlet in the same room, light does not flicker.



I don't think it should be a load issue but couldn't figure out why else the light flickers.
      

Recent change the switch and outlet. Now th outlet dims the lamp when turned off..  The switch has two black. The outlet has one black and two white. A black and white on one side and one white on the other. This was changed by my brother and i did not see th original wiring.
      

This should be simple but . . .



I am replacing a couple old 3 pole switches with 2 new decorator switches. First switch I rewired exactly like the old one black on black pole, a second black on brass pole on the same side, and red on the pole on the other side.



I rewired the second switch exactly like the old one was too.  White on black pole (I know ) red on the brass pole on the same side, and black on seperate pole on other side.



light will turn on and off from first switch but only off from second and will not turn on from first switch if second is turned off.



so I rewired second switch with balck on black pole, white on top brass pole, and red on seperate pole.  Nothing changed.



Do I need to test which wires are actually connecte to each other in the wall or what?



thanks for your electrical wisdom
      

I am replacing the fan in one of our guest bedrooms and thought it would also be a good time to replace the switch.  Currently there is one switch to turn the fan and light on/off. 



I'd like to put the fan and light on two separate switches.  It appears that 12/3 or 14/3 is already in place (white, black and red/pink wires in switch enclosure w/ bare copper for ground).  I'd also like to make the light dimmable and the fan speed adjustable from these switches.  Could anyone recommend a good switch(es) to accomplish this?
      

Hello!



In a house I recently bought I have a strange situation.



There is a three way switch on one side of the wall with two sets of wires coming in:



Red, Black, White

Black, White



and then one stray Black that goes to the duplex receptacle on the other side of the wall (on the OUTSIDE of the wall!  Clearly an afterthought.)



Into the receptacle goes this strange black single wire from the light switch and the usual black and white wires + ground wire.



I went to change the ugly receptacle to a decora and now it doesn't work, though I'm not 100% sure it worked before.



I've wired the new receptacle as I remember it being wired before, any idea what is wrong? 



I've attached a diagram!



Thanks in advance for any input.
      

Hey everyone - question about home wiring that was done when the house  was built about 20 years ago (which putting it delicately...is very  shoddy at best).  I'd like to think of myself as fairly knowledgeable in  basic home wiring...but this one has me baffled and I really hope  someone can help.



I am redoing a screened-in porch at the back of our house.  There is  currently a working outlet, and single-pole switch that turns on an  outside bug zapper, and a wire running coming into a second  switch...then leading into nothing in the ceiling (presumably for a  future ceiling fan / light install that was never completed).  I gutted  the entire porch and using one of those audible voltage testers,  discovered the wire than ran into the second switch / ceiling box did  NOT work. 



Not thinking much about it, I tried figuring out how the first switch  (to that outdoor bug zapper) was wired.  Most of the wiring for that  switch and the outlet I mentioned is behind the plywood sheathing of the  house...so it's near impossible to figure out where it goes.  Initially  it LOOKED like the power from the circuit panel came into the outlet  first...and then went out to the bug zapper switch.  (Why did I think  this?  The outlet had a B/W wire coming into it...and another B/W going  out back into the wall somewhere.  Tracing that wire along the basement  foundation best I could...it looked like it went right into the bug  zapper switch).  So wanting to completely eliminate the bug zapper  switch, I disconnected all of the wires that were connected to the  outlet to figure out which set was leading to it.



Here's where I got confused.  When I did this and re-tested voltage at  the outlet, one set of wires was live...and the other set was dead.  And  that makes perfect sense.  Yet the bug zapper switch STILL worked.  OK -  so my conclusion: the power for this bug zapper switch isn't coming  from the outlet.  No problem.  But just because I was near it, I decided  to also check that 2nd switch / ceiling wire combo...and what do you know - it was LIVE!



I got super excited it was working but then super baffled because I  didn't do anything to that ceiling wire at all.  In fact - all I did was  DISconnect 2 sets of wires at a nearby outlet. 



Confused but happy, I was ready to pack it in for the evening and  re-connected the incoming / outgoing wires back to the power outlet.   Flipped the circuit breaker on.  No issues.  BUT - now all of a sudden  the 2nd switch / ceiling wire that magically started working was NO  longer working - just like it hadn't been since I started this whole  process. 



Logic is telling me it's obviously got something to do with the outlet  wiring...since that's the only thing I messed with.  But why would the  ceiling wire all of a sudden become LIVE when the wires going into the  outlet were all disconnected?  It's certainly a first for me.  Can anyone help me figure this mystery out?  Thanks gang!