I got wordy for the ones that have never worked with wire, switch, outlet,
and fixtures

"Chris Lewis" wrote in message
...
According to Craig M :
Tossing my 2 cents worth in here, in a common switched curcit, the hot
and
neutral will be of the same length maybe the difference of the switch
itself, here is how, the romex comes from the breaker at the main panel ,
goes to a switch box on the wall, then another length of romex goes to
the
outlet or fixture and is attached to the leads of the fixture or outlet,
back at the switch box, the grounds are wire nutted togetther and a
pig-tail
goes to the ground screw on the switch, the whites are wire nutted
together
and the blacks go to the switch screws to make the circuit, so for the
most
part, the conductors are the same length.

Switches can be wired in two ways:

1) Power goes to switch first, then switched hot and neutral goes
to light fixture. This is what you've described above (in a lot
more words ;-).

2) Power feed goes to the light first. The neutral is attached to the
fixture. Then, the hot feed goes to the switch, and a switched
hot comes back to the fixture. These are called "switch loops",
and what I was referring to earlier.

I prefer to do 1, but 2 is perfectly legal, and I've seen some
books recommending it. It can be somewhat advantageous in
certain circumstances.

In (1) the hot and neutral are the same length. More-or-less.

In (2) the hot is longer than the neutral - by twice the length
of the cable going from the fixture to the switch.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.