Replacing light switch question


  #1  
Old 08-08-16, 10:06 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: USA
Posts: 4
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Replacing light switch question

We recently bought an older home built in the late 70s. The floorplan is perfect for our growing family and it has been update throughout the years. However, the light switch in our utility room doesn't stay on, you have to hold the switch in the up position and hope that it will stay on when you let go, there is no firm "click" to it.

It is a single pole switch with "ON" and "OFF" embossed into it. I bought a new single pole switch with the light behind the switch to replace it. So today I turn off the power to remove and replace the old switch and find that there are two sets of 3-wire coming into the box. The switch itself has only two screws on the side, no actual ground screw on it. Both black wires from each set of 3-wire are connected to the switch, the white wires are tied together with a wire-nut and the bare copper wires are twisted together and tucked into a hole in the back of the metal box.

I'm really at a loss, I expected (actually my wife expected) this to be an easy fix for a small problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Name:  1.jpg
Views: 290
Size:  30.7 KB
 

Last edited by PJmax; 08-08-16 at 10:30 AM. Reason: reoriented picture
  #2  
Old 08-08-16, 10:13 AM
S
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: WI/MN
Posts: 19,125
Received 1,263 Upvotes on 1,204 Posts
Welcome to the forums. This is actually two wire cable, the ground is not counted.

This is as I would have expected it, as one of the black wires is the incoming hot and one is the outgoing to the light.

What did you expect to see?
 
  #3  
Old 08-08-16, 11:30 AM
ray2047's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 29,711
Upvotes: 0
Received 15 Upvotes on 13 Posts
Is this what you have? Nothing wrong if it is.

Name:  sw_circuit-1_zpse7a0670a.jpg
Views: 191
Size:  18.4 KB

Perhaps you are more familiar with switch loops. Either is acceptable.

Name:  Sw_Loopb-pre-2011.jpg
Views: 150
Size:  24.5 KB
Note this is a pre 2011 witch loop.
 
  #4  
Old 08-08-16, 03:12 PM
pcboss's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 13,976
Received 194 Upvotes on 170 Posts
The ground should have been connected to the box with a ground screw or clip.

Just turn off the power and move the blacks over to the new switch.
 
  #5  
Old 08-09-16, 03:28 PM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: USA
Posts: 4
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Shortly after posting this I located a video on YouTube that showed the exact same setup.... Apparently that's how it should be and I just didn't know.... Thank you all so much for the replies!
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: