The most common requirement of any hardwired automated light switch is a neutral wire. If you have one then you can find it on either the hot wire or the switch leg.
3 Way Switch Wiring Electrical 101
Wiring a light switch common. The 1 pole light switch will have two terminals on it and possibly a third terminal that is a ground connection. You should see two black wires each connecting to a different screw on the right side of the switch. Yes there are a few read very very very few switches that dont require a neutral but those will limit you to incandescent only. The common is for the live wire that supplies the input voltage to the switch. Wiring a single pole light switch here a single pole switch controls the power to a light fixture. For those of us using led fluorescent or some other energy efficient bulbs under 20w a neutral is required.
The source hot wire is connected to a switch terminal and the other terminal is connected to the black cable wire. The common wire is located on a 3 way switch. Once again the white neutral wires are simply joined together and the grounding wires are joined together with pigtails connecting the switch and to the box if it is metal. You should also see a green wire called a ground wire which. The other terminal is marked as l1 and is the output to the light fixture. If you only have one cable in the device box then the switch outlet is likely wired as a switch leg drop.
The most common light switch is the single pole light switch. When youre wiring decorative light switches such as chrome or stainless steel etc youll find that the switch will also have an l2 terminal which means its a two way switch. This is the wire running directly to the actual fixture whether it be a light or a lamp or any other type of electrical switch for an appliance. However at this second switch the common screw terminal is connected to a black hot wire that leads onward to the light fixture. These are called terminal screws. The source is at the switch and 2 wire cable runs from there to the light.
Gallery of Wiring A Light Switch Common
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