Popped Breaker After Mis-wiring A Fan.

I have two 3-way switches in my master bath that have never worked properly. The house is very old and has been worked on over the years by many different people with greatly varying levels of skill. I was finally fed up with these switches and tried to fix them. I tried to follow instructions I found online, so with the power off I disconnected all the wires from both switches, then turned the power back on and used my volt-meter to discover which wire was hot. It turned out to the a red wire at switch #1. The other two wires are white and black (and yes, there also is a ground). I connected this hot wire to the darkest screw, connected the white and black to the other two screws and tried to test for continuity at the other switch. I couldn't get a reading on any of the wires at the other end. I tried turning the power back on and testing to see which wire was now hot at the second switch. It was the white wire, so I attached that to the darkest terminal, and attached the red and black to the other two terminals. The switches don't work any better than they did before I started - that is, both switches have to be turned on for the light to come on. What is my problem here? Thank you!
      

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!
      

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.
      

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
      

Greetings!

I'm hoping for some help, I bought a house recently where the laundry room light switch does not work. I found this in the ceiling box:



Two black wires capped off

One white wire capped off

Three white wires going to the fixture

Two black wires going to the fixture



I replaces the switch to rule that out and it still doesn't work.



There is one black and one white wire going to the switch.



Any ideas on how to wire it properly?



Thanks!
      

Hello -



I'm attempting to install a new bathroom vent fan / light combo.  I pulled out the old one from the ceiling and am ready to install the new one.  I'm not sure how to wire up the new one.



The wire coming from the 2 Switches/Wall has the following 4 wires:  Black, White, Red, Bare Copper Ground



The wires coming from the Light/Fan Unit a

Light:  Black, White, Red

Fan:  Black, White

Fan/Light Housing:  Green Ground Wire



Any help would be appreciated.



Thanks!
      

I am trying to install a SunSmart Digital Timer to my hall lightswitch (single pole). The timer has 5 wires: Black, White, Blue, Red, and Green. My switch box only has 3 wires: Black, White, and the bare ground wire. I connected the black to the black, white to white, and green to the bare ground. I have power to the timer but the light doesn't work. What should I do with the blue and red wires? Right now I have each capped off. Thanks.
      

I raised a shed and disconnected the wiring from the main building to the shed. Now it's a month later and it's time to hook the power back up. From the main building I have power into the shed with a white, black, red and copper wire. Originally the power went into the outside light fixture and then off of that it went to another light and two outlets. The original confiruation allowed of us to turn the shed's outside light on and off, from a switch inside the main building. With the power off to the light, we still had power to the outlets and internal light. The outside light fixture has black and white wires. The wire to the internal light and the outlets has a black, white, and copper wire. So how do I wire this so that the main building switch can control the outside light on the shed, while still having power to the internal light and outlets, regardless of the switch being on or off? (I wired the internal blacks and whites all together, which just ended up with the outside light always being on.)
      

Hello all, and thank you in advance for any help you can provide! Here is the deal I wanted to put a bathroom exhaust fan in and was told I could come off the existing switch to cut the wire, install a junction box, tie the wires all back in adding the wires for the fan. Trouble is the bathroom light stays on with the switch off. Turn the switch on light dims and the fan now runs, switch off fan shuts off light goes bright used black to black white to white where oh where did I go wrong!?
      

Well it's not really an outlet but just a junction box that has black, white and bare copper coming out.  I was told by someone before that this would be the end of the line for this circuit since the wires don't go any further from this box.   Its located in my attic just below the eve opening for an attic fan.  I checked the black and white wires a few years ago and measured 115 vac so I installed the attic fan and it was fine until this year.  No fan operation so I check for power and I'm measuring about 3 vac across the white and black wires now.  I disconnected the attic fan and measured the same 3 vac.  Test fan on another power sourch and it works.  Everything else on the circuit seems to be working.  Any ideas what might be happening here.  The attic fan really helps a lot and I'd like to get it working again.  If I need to provide more information please ask and I'll do my best.  Thanks for any help.