How to Wire a Single Pole Switch Loop
A single-pole switch controls one or more electrical circuits entering an electrical junction box. The switch controls the electrical circuit by interrupting the flow of electricity through the circuit's hot wire, as a rule, you should not wire the white neutral wire to break the connection between the light switch and the electrical fixture. When installing the single-pole switch, you need to make sure that each connection properly made to avoid creating an electrical hazard within your home. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Voltage tester
- Wire stripper
- Electrical fixture
- Needle nose pliers
- Lineman's pliers
- Wire nuts
- Regular screwdriver
Instructions
-
-
1
Turn off the breaker supplying power to the electrical circuit you are adding the single-pole switch.
-
2
Check the source wires coming into the electrical fixture with the voltage tester to ensure that the wires are not carrying an electrical current.
-
-
3
Remove one-inch of protective coating from both the hot (black) and neutral (white) source wires entering the junction box and from the wires leaving the junction box. The wires leaving the junction box run to the switch and are referred to as the switch loop. If the wires of the electrical fixture are not pre-stripped, remove one-inch of coating from them as well.
-
4
Place the neutral source wire next to the neutral wire of the electrical fixture, hold the coated side of the wires with the lineman's pliers and twist the wires clockwise with the needle nose pliers to lock the wires together. Trim the twisted wires to the length specified on the wire nut packaging with the cutting edge of the lineman's pliers. If you do not have the packaging for the wire nuts, trim the wire to a length that does not allow any bare copper wire to extend beyond the wire nut's internal threads.
-
5
Connect the hot source wire to the white wire of the switch loop, splice the black wire of the switch loop to the black wire of the electrical fixture and twist all copper wires in the junction box together as described in the previous step.
-
6
Mount the electrical fixture as described in the fixture's installation manual.
-
7
Strip the protective coating from the ends neutral and hot wires of the switch loop located in the junction bow where you are installing the single-pole switch as described in Step 3. If the switch has a wire stripping cut, strip the wires to the depth required by the switch rather than one-inch.
-
8
Bend a loop on the end of each bare wire by clamping the end of the wire in the needle nose pliers and turning it clockwise. If the single-pole switch you are using has holes on the backside for a slip connection skip this step.
-
9
Connect the white wire of the switch loop to the bottom connection of the single-pole switch by loosen the screw located on the side of the switch with the regular screwdriver, sliding the loop you created on the end of the white wire over the loosened screw and tightening the screw. If your switch has a slip connection, slide the bare straight wire into the slip connection.
-
10
Repeat the process to connect the black wire to the top connection of the single-pole switch.
-
11
Connect the copper ground wire of the switch loop to the grounding lug of the single-pole switch and install the switch into the junction bow.
-
12
Turn on the breaker to supply power to the electrical circuit and test the function of the switch. If the switch does not work, turn off the breaker and check that all connections are made properly.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit light switch image by Jim Mills from Fotolia.com
