Electrical Wiring Issue

[pcgeek86]

Hey guys,

I have a light fixture on a 2-way switch that suddenly died. After doing some troubleshooting, I found out that when I turned the switch "on", the hot wire would go dead. When I turned the switch "off", the hot wire would be hot. I tried swapping the switch with a known good one, but the behavior persists. I have replaced the light fixture, and it has not resolved the issue. Also, one thing that did resolve the symptom was leaving the light fixture disconnected, and the hot wire, going from the switch to the fixture, hang loose. When nothing was connected, the wire would be hot when the switch was "on."

Any ideas on how to resolve this?

Cheers, Trevor

[Jesse]

Is your switch upside down? The terminals should be on your right.

[hrhofmann]

Do you mean you have two switches that control the light? If only one, have you checked the connection to the neutral from the light fixture?

[Molly Brown]

Are you sure you=92re not confusing the neutral for the hot? Sometimes you can get a voltage from the neutral that can make it seem like the hot until you connect it to a load.

[Roger Shoaf]

Look carefully at the switch. A single pole single throw switch usually is marked "OFF" and "ON". A single pole double throw switch has no such markings as the switch at the top of the stairs (or at one end of the hallway)can either be up or down with the fixture is on depending on the position of the switch at the bottom of the stairs (or at the other end of the hallway).

[John Grabowski]

I have a light fixture on a 2-way switch that suddenly died. After

*Stop using a meter to check voltage. Use a pigtail socket and bulb instead. You may have a problem with the neutral (White wire). Check every connection on that circuit and the connections at the circuit breaker panel.

[pcgeek86]

Hey thanks for the responses guys! Let me see if I can respond to each one:

Q: Is the switch upside down?

A: The switch is not upside down - the terminals are indeed on the right-hand side.

Q: Do I have two switches controlling the light?

A: No, I only have one switch controlling the light. I had a similar style switch next to it (for a different light), that I swapped switches with, to rule out the switch being bad.

Q: Am I confusing neutral with hot?

A: I don't think I am ... At the fixture, the neutral is white, and the hot supply wire is orange. At the switch, the hot supply wire is yellow, and the one going to the fixture is orange.

Q: What type of switch am I using? (pointed at Roger)

A: It's a single rocker switch; That is the only switch controlling this fixture.

[pcgeek86]

So, in follow up to my answers .. if we assume at this point, that the neutral is somehow dead, then how can I go about finding where? At the electrical box where the fixture is mounted, there are actually about

5 different neutral wires coming together, with a wire nut there. That neutral wire nut is where the light fixture is being spliced into the neutral line. All the other devices on that circuit are working just fine, as best I can tell.

Cheers, Trevor

[trader4]

The basic procedure here is to stop changing things and to start testing things in a logical order. You should have 120V at the hot wire coming to the switch. With the switch off you should have 0 volts leaving the switch. With the switch on you should have 120V leaving the switch. You should measure the above relative to neutral and ground and the results should be the same. You keep following the circuit until you find what's wrong.

Some of what you posted makes no sense, ie that you have voltage when the switch is off instead of when it's on.

[John Grabowski]

*It is not unusual for other things to work fine when you have a problem. You could have a loose connection on the load side of a receptacle. Start opening up outlets on that circuit that are close to the problem switch and light. Also check that splice of five wires in the ceiling box. Also make sure all of the connections are tight in your circuit breaker box.

Is this circuit wired using conduit?