Why does one of my light switches have 4 wires?
2 Answers. Vivek, as you said in your answer, the other black wire feeds the remaining devices on the circuit. When you switched the connections around, you changed it so the additional devices in the circuit would be interrupted.
What is 4 wire electrical wire used for?
Electrical junction box with multiple circuits. Connecting a 4-wire and a 3-wire circuit at a junction box is used to connect two 120-volt circuits to one 240-volt line. This configuration is used most often for large lighting arrays.
Can I put red and black wires together?
These wires are typically used for switch wiring as well as the interconnection between smoke detectors hard-wired into the power system. You can link two red wires together, or you can link a red wire to a black wire. Since red wires conduct current, they are considered hot.
What color wires go together for a ceiling light?
One of the black and white wires goes to the light fixture. The other black and white wires are the electrical circuit for the switch. If the light can be turned on or off from switches at each side of the room, you’ll see a blue wire that connects the electrical circuits for three-way switches.
Which color wires go together?
The neutral is white, the hot (live or active) single phase wires are black , and red in the case of a second active. Three-phase lines are red, black, and blue.
US AC power circuit wiring color codes.
| Function | Protective ground |
|---|---|
| label | PG |
| Color, common | bare, green, or green-yellow |
| Color, alternative | green |
How can I tell which wire is live?
1 Answer. You figure out the live by using a voltmeter or voltage detector. If a voltmeter you compare it to neutral (or earth will suffice for testing, if present.) You figure out the switched-live by noting which of the live wires is off with the switch off and dead with the switch missing.
How do you connect 4 wires to 2 wires?
How to Connect a 4 Wire Line to 2 Wires
- Take the ends of both the 12-2 ROMEX® wire and the 12-3 ROMEX® wire and strip 1/2 inch of insulation off each wire. Push both ends into an electrical junction box.
- Look at the four wires of the 12-3 cable.
- Alternatively, use the red wire as the hot wire.
Can I use a 3 prong outlet with 4 wires?
It’s not code compliant to use a 4-wire receptacle on a 3-wire cord and place a neutral ground bond inside the receptacle box. If you need to, you can either replace the existing 3-prong receptacle with a new one or use a 3-prong cord kit for the range.
What size is #4 wire?
Breaking Force for Copper Wire
| AWG gauge | Conductor Diameter Inches | Ohms per 1000 ft. |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0.2294 | 0.197 |
| 4 | 0.2043 | 0.2485 |
| 5 | 0.1819 | 0.3133 |
| 6 | 0.162 | 0.3951 |
What is the ampacity of 4 AWG wire?
Related Resources
| Size | Temperature Rating of Copper Conductor | |
|---|---|---|
| (AWG or kcmil) | 60°C (140°F) | 90°C (194°F) |
| 8 AWG | 40 | 55 |
| 6 AWG | 55 | 75 |
| 4 AWG | 70 | 95 |
Why does my 4 way switch not work?
Usually when a 3-way or 4-way switch fails, lights can be toggled on and off on all but one switch. Any switch that toggles the light(s) on and off is probably working properly.Toggle each switch until the light come on. Toggle the first switch to see if it turns the light on and off.
When should you use a 4 way switch?
You use 4-way switches in situations where you want to control a light or other fixture from more than two locations. For example, the second-floor hallway lights in my own home are controlled at four different locations. To accomplish this, you must have two 3-way switches and two 4-way switches.
What happens if you switch Red and black wires?
If you switched the wires, what would happen? Red is positive charge, black is negative charge. If you aren’t running if you aren’t connected correctly.
Does Red wire go to white or black?
Sheathed cable with a red wire always is accompanied by a black wire, a white wire and a bare wire. Very old homes may have cable that excludes the bare wire.
What does Red and black wire indicate?
Black, red, white with black or red tape will always indicate a hot wire. The term hot means these wires carry a live current from your electric panel to the destination.Black or red wires always carry power from the service panel (breaker box) to your home’s devices.
Which wire goes where in a light fitting?
If the light fitting you have purchased has just two cores – live (brown) and neutral (blue), connect the live to the switch live terminal and neutral to the neutral terminal. If the fitting has an earth core, it must be sleeved with a yellow and green coat and connected to the Earth terminal.
Which wire comes first black or white?
When you connect an outlet or light switch, the black wire goes to the brass screws. The ground wire goes to the green screw. The white wire goes to the white-metal screws on an electrical outlet.
Do you need the green wire for ceiling light?
2 Answers. Green is the ground wire. It connects to the ground conductor in the box and bonds it to exposed metal portions of the fixture as a safety measure. The ground conductor is typically a bare wire inside the same cable as the supply hot and neutral wires.
Which wire is hot when both are clear?
If the plastic is clear, the wires in the neutral side are silver while those in the hot side are copper.
Which color wire is ground?
green
According to Mark Dawson, chief operating officer of Mister Sparky, green insulated wires are used for grounding. Green is the most common ground wire color, but green-yellow (green wire with a yellow stripe) and bare wire (copper wire without colored insulation) can also be used.
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