DIYbanter - View Single Post - Can't figure this switch out... anyone help?

dpb

wrote:
I have a double gang box that has two single pole switches- each
switch controls one overhead light fixture. The switches were nasty
looking so I decided to swap them out. Unfortunately when I removed
them they just disintegrated before I could look at all the wires.
Now I am stuck trying to figure this circuit out.

Two 14/2 romex cables come into the box. Grounds are tied and
pigtailed- but not any of the other leads. However, there is a two
inch long white wire that was used as some sort of "jumper" between
the two switches. It's looped at both ends, so I know it was attached
to the switch's side terminals, as opposed to the rest of the wires
which used the switch's "push-in" terminals.

Fixture #1
One romex cable runs straight up to this light There is continuity
across the white and black as long as there is a bulb in the fixture.
I removed the fixture and verified there are no other wires up there.

Fixture #2
The other romex has a hot white and a non-hot black. The white lead
is not marked. If I connect a switch across these two wires, the
fixture that was controlled by it (before I messed everything up) will
work. I can't (easily) get at this fixture to see what other wires
may or may not be up there.

I can't understand how this was all setup to work properly & within
code. Assuming Fixture #2 has a neutral somewhere else besides that
box I am working in, where is the neutral for the other fixture?