Blog

The Green Street Story.

The electrical apprenticeship is not easy, Looking back on it, I can say that it was worth it. However, I must also acknowledge the fact, that it may not have been as worth it, had i not applied myself in school and in the field.

The single pole switch is an easy and simple install.  If you feel as if you know how to install a single pole, but are still having troubles, it can be due to a variety of reasons, which we will explain. 

This text will include links that will give further insight into specific situations that may come about while on a home improvement electrical project, involving the single pole switch.

Firstly, the single pole switch opens and closes.  That’s major when it comes to understanding what it does with electricity.  When you toggle it up or down, you open or close the circuit.  A switch box is fed by power, and it will also have a light leg.  The light leg is the wire that goes directly to the light fixture, which indeed does come directly from the switch.  It is (the switch) the wire that is being switched!

An existing switch box can have many wires in it.  Normally, if it is a single gang box, or if it is a switch location with only one switch, that box will have one or two wires in it.  It most certainly may have 2 more wires too.  That should also be expected.  Generally, you will see at least two wire nuts in the box.  One wire nut would normally be a splice for the neutral conductor, and the other would be the hot, or the power, also spliced under a wire nut.  The copper or aluminum ground is normally present as well.

This is where many D.I.Y. electricians begin to run into challenges.

Let me explain. 

Most D.I.Y. electricians are familiar with the single pole switch.  They know that the switch has 3 screws for terminating wires.  One is green, and the other 2 are brass.  The green is for the ground and the two brass are for, either power, or the light leg.  When we use the term power, here; we mean the line, or the hot, derived from a 120-volt circuit.  That may sound confusing, but that is correct in a technical manner.   It will help you in the long run.

So, if you don’t understand, you will when you see the video that goes with this post.  It is on You Tube.  (Feel free to reach out on our channel, Green Street Electric).  Don’t take off just yet however!

A little more yet, on single pole switches.

These screws  on the switch will each get the appropriate wire terminated to it.  Again, the ground goes to the green screw.  Curl it, and then terminate.  Then take the hot and tie it to either brass screw.  If you want to be particular about it, which would be a great practice, you will terminate the hot to the bottom brass screw, and the light leg to the top brass screw.  It doesn’t really matter which brass screw gets the hot or leg.  The reason for that is because the switch opens and closes when toggled.  We love saying that!

If you have just one wire, with a black and white conductor, you are looking at a drop switch.  If you want to know more on drop switches, then click on it drop switches. 

If you have  bunch of wires in a box, but don’t know what to do, or if you have lost the wires that originally were terminated to an existing switch, then follow here.

Wiring the switch in real time!

If you are looking to wire a switch right at this moment, and have the proper tools, then no problem!  Let’s go! 

If you want to know more about basic tools that you will need to be able to handle most residential projects, the click here.

Furthermore, you’re at the switch, only after turning the power off at the panel box.  You take the switch plate off, and then you loosen the top and bottom screws to the switch.  These screws will literally back out of the box.  At this point you will be able to grab the switch, but when you do, you treat it like it’s hot!  One hand, and two fingers.  Just pull the switch out, and the wiring that is terminated to it will stretch itself out.  Now that you have done this, you can simply begin to loosen those screws. 

Remember how they were attached, and remember which wire was which.  If you should get the two conductors that went to the switch confused, it’s ok.  Again, the switch opens and closes, so they can go back on either way.  Never, however, attach the bare ground to the brass screws of any device, never!

For now, that is all, perhaps we will take another look at the single pole switch installation.  Comments and questions are welcome.

Ladies and gentlemen, electrical applications and installations are  completely logical, and based upon the knowledge that we have and share, recognized as electrical theory, and the National Electrical Code.

Light bulbs go on and off at the flick of the switch, at the tug of a pull chain, and when a breaker is turned to “closed” or “open”. However, the incandescent light bulb goes of far more times then most of us know. As just mentioned, when the power is not present on the electrical wire, the light bulb goes out. When power or voltage is sent to the light, it will turn on, so long as there is a bulb properly installed to the fixture.

Now, let’s consider the type of electricity that we consume in our homes. Well, it’s know as ALTERNATING CURRENT. This is the type of electricity that powers most of our homes and businesses. Direct current, currently is derived from AC current. We have drivers, converters, inverters, and transformers to help us with that part of it. Besides, the incandescent bulb cannot be powered with DC current anyways. That’s another story.

However, when we take a look at alternating current, we must take into consideration the nature of it. The keyword here is alternating.

Electrical current is depicted and measured by frequency, and sine waves.

Generally, most of our electrical devices are rated for 60 Hertz, and therefore the power companies provide us with the standard, 120/240 volts, at 60 hz.

The frequency of electricity runs like so. It rises in voltage and drops in voltage, and when we observe the sine wave that depicts this, we see that it drops to zero and even below zero. This is when the light goes out because there isn’t any power at that brief moment. It then rises to it’s full potential, only to drop again.

Therefore, the incandescent light bulb goes on and off, 60 times per second.

Remodel or rewire the house, but what is best.

I have often encountered the challenge of reworking existing wiring and adding wire to an existing dwelling. Here, in the Richmond and Petersburg areas of Virginia, remodels are familiar job types for the local trades and builders. You may get lucky, and not have to move any of your electrical wires on your home’s remodel, but the chances are, that’s never going to happen. Unless of course, the remodel is extremely minor.

To remodel or to rewire. That is the question posed to the electrician. Sure, the homeowner may desire that the electrician continues off of the existing wiring. That would be however, because they think that they could save money. It can be quite the opposite however, but the electrician may urge to keep his or her circuits separated from that which is existing.

In some cases, I too will refuse to work with the existing wires. If a home has knob-and-tube wiring, then I will only rewire it. I will not add my wire to such circuitry. At most, I willprovide my own feed from the existing electrical panel box.

Most electricians will not add wiring to wiring that was installed nearly 100 years ago. Yes, we are going back to as early as 1890. That’s right!

I will also insist on rewiring a home when it has that old BX cable. This cable is a metallic armored and spiraled flexible conduit that simply encases the KT-type wires. What I mean is that the wires of the knob-and-tube wiring are sleaved by this metallic armor. That is BX-cable. The conductors are encased by a rigid and durable conduit, and that’s great.

The problem comes into play when these wires are touched, moved, or tampered with. This is because they are outdated, and so the insulation of the conductors literally begins to disintegrate. The actual conductors, which are insulated, become not insulated quite easily.

What happens is the following. An electrical device, such as a switch or outlet may need to be replaced. When we go to replace it, we find that the insulation breaks off and that the wiring will then have conductors that are exposed. This can lead to potential fire hazards. Personally, the ground that is involved may not be as good of a ground as it was upon the initial installation. Unfortunately, BX-cable can eventually become a hazard.

Here is a great example, a big learning lesson for me. I was working on a house, because the owner was unable to pass inspection after he had his buddy work on the electrical. Well, the buddy decided to work with the existing wiring of the home during the remodel. He added new wires to provide the house with what it needed concerning the electrical, but this was not a good idea. None of these wires were coming directly from the panel box. Instead, he added them as jumpers, and ran wire from the existing wire. When he finished, he had one breaker that was tripping, and receptacle and lighting circuits that were missing grounds.

Just to clarify. I was called to do a job that someone else was unable to complete.

The first thing that I needed to do was demolish the old bx-cables that were coming out of the panel as a homerun. Once they were demolished and isolated, I began to properly splice them into the new wiring that I added.

I used a metallic box with metallic connectors, which I bonded to a metal junction box. This allowed me to be able run the new 12-2 Romex out of the box and to the panel. This provided grounds for his existing circuits.

So, things were going well, and I was closing up the job. If I remember correctly, it took about 5 hours total. That’s what I was billing the customer for, but as I did my last walk through I noticed that there was one light switch in the home that was still causing a breaker to trip. When it tripped, I became worried.

I called the property owner and told him how much he owed me for the job. Additionally, I had to tell him that there was more work that needed to be done. He did not like this, and he listened very carefully. I explained to him that the tripping breaker has absolutely nothing to do with anything that I have done. He wasn’t so sure, however. So now, I have to explain the situation. It wasn’t complicated in any sense at all, and so I was able to show him exactly where the problem was. He understood that the wire going from switch to light was damaged.

Yes indeed, it was undeniable, and I was in the safe zone. He on the other hand was dreading the fact that this fix was going to cost him royally. Not only would he have to pay for more wire and electrical services, but he was going to have to call the painters and sheet rockers again. This job was going to entail cutting into the walls and running new wire. Unfortunately, he was learning how to do a better job on the next go around. He was in the business of flipping properties, and trying to save money, ended up costing him more in the end.

It was on that day that I decided to always shoot to rewire a home when BX-cable and Knob-and-tube are involved.

This is Green Street Electric