Originally Posted By: Ken.C
Here are the pics (he says, relentlessly keeping the thread on track...)



Another angle:



The switch has a single yellow romex going into it, with the black wire hot when the switch is off.


ken, the yellow romex is 12/2 (that's why it's yellow and it's been run recently in the last couple of years that's when they changed the color coding of romex jackets; #10 would be orange)what we can't see is the color jacket of the other cable. based on what i see the black and white cable that you cannot see the sheath is the feed with 120v (black) and the white (looks more bage with the single red wire nut on it) should be the neutral. notice the back is connected to the white of the romex with the yellow sheath, that should send power down to the single pole switch and when the switch is turned on it should come back up to the light fixture with the black conductor (shown alone with a single red wire nut) the light fixture hot should connect to the black and the netural of the fixture should connect to the single white (beige looking) conductor. if this is wired correctly you should be able to turn on and off the fixture attached to this box with no problem.

questions for you:

is there a single pole switch in the switch box? a single pole switch will say "on/off" depending on it's position. it should also have two insulated wires connected to it and in some instances a bare copper ground to the ground screw.

is it a three way switch in the switch box? a three way switch will not say anything on it as it's depending on the position/condition of the other three way switch in the circuit. it should also have three insulated wires connected to it and in some instances a bare copper ground to the ground screw.

which of the above is what you have?

if you seperate the two wires that are connected with the wire nut (black & white) is either one of them hot? once seperated did you lose power in the switch?

another thing is that if you have a compelte circuit for a light fixture, i.e. a single pole switch, a light fixture with an incandescent bulb in it and properly wired conductors between them when you can test the switch to make sure it hasen't failed by putting a tester accross the two terminals of the single pole switch (on/off) and when in the on position you should read no voltage (this is a properly working switch) in the off position you should read line voltage (120v) (this is a properly working switch) if the switch is off and you go accross it with a tester and read no voltage and you notice the light won't turn off then the switch is bad, failed closed (even when you have it turned to the off position) if you have the switch turned on and you read accross the terminals with a tester and you read line voltage and you have a good working fixture and bulb then the switch is bad and you are reading an open switch (the switch has failed open)

get back to me when you can on this. i'm here to help ya buddy!

Oh yeah, pull out the switch, leave it attached to the wires and take a picture of that too!


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