hi
My Master Bathroom single switch controls nine light one overhead and 8
on the vanity. Is it possible to put the overhead light and the vanity
lights on two separate switches.

thanks

In article . com,
david wrote:
hi
My Master Bathroom single switch controls nine light one overhead and 8
on the vanity. Is it possible to put the overhead light and the vanity
lights on two separate switches.

Yes. How easy it will be depends on how the original wireing was done.

If you are not comfortable working with electrical circuts, STOP here
and call an electrician.

Otherwise, open up the switch and pull the switch out from the box. How
many wires are attached to it? If 2, and neither of them is spliced to
2 others in the box, you probably want to call an electrician.

If there are 3 wires coming into the box and 2 are connected to one side
of the switch, turn the switch to off and using a test light determine
which side of the switch is hot. If its the side with 2 wires, you
probably want to call an electrician.

Otherwise, split the 2 wires apart. CAREFULLY touch one then the other
to the hot side of the switch. If one lites the overhead and the other
lights the vanity, jackpot. Otherwise put things back and you
probably want to call an electrician.

Turn the power off. Get a duplex switch. Its 2 switches that mount in
the space of one. It will require a different switch plate. The duplex
switch will have 4 screws, 2 on each side. Connect the hot to one of
them and add a jumper to the other screw on the same side. (Some duplex
switches will have this jumper internally and have 2 screws on one side
and one on the other. The one is the hot connection.) Connect the wire
to the overhead to one of the other screws and the vanity to the other.

Put back into the box, put the plate on and apply power. If you have
done everything right, the house won't burn down and the lights will be
controlled seperately.

Good luck.

--
Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L
Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

hi
I have a total of three wires coming into the box. Two black come to
the right side of the switch and the white wire (this goes to the
electric box) is in a red capping to join electric cables.

Would a duplex switch work with me spiltting the black cable assuming
one black wire goies to the vanity and the other to the overhead light
thanks


Rich Greenberg wrote:
In article . com,
david wrote:
hi
My Master Bathroom single switch controls nine light one overhead
and 8
on the vanity. Is it possible to put the overhead light and the
vanity
lights on two separate switches.

Yes. How easy it will be depends on how the original wireing was
done.

If you are not comfortable working with electrical circuts, STOP here
and call an electrician.

Otherwise, open up the switch and pull the switch out from the box.
How
many wires are attached to it? If 2, and neither of them is spliced
to
2 others in the box, you probably want to call an electrician.

If there are 3 wires coming into the box and 2 are connected to one
side
of the switch, turn the switch to off and using a test light
determine
which side of the switch is hot. If its the side with 2 wires, you
probably want to call an electrician.

Otherwise, split the 2 wires apart. CAREFULLY touch one then the
other
to the hot side of the switch. If one lites the overhead and the
other
lights the vanity, jackpot. Otherwise put things back and you
probably want to call an electrician.

Turn the power off. Get a duplex switch. Its 2 switches that mount
in
the space of one. It will require a different switch plate. The
duplex
switch will have 4 screws, 2 on each side. Connect the hot to one of
them and add a jumper to the other screw on the same side. (Some
duplex
switches will have this jumper internally and have 2 screws on one
side
and one on the other. The one is the hot connection.) Connect the
wire
to the overhead to one of the other screws and the vanity to the
other.

Put back into the box, put the plate on and apply power. If you have
done everything right, the house won't burn down and the lights will
be
controlled seperately.

Good luck.

--
Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770
321 6507
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er
since CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky
Owner:Chinook-L
Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst
Owner:Sibernet-L

On 31 Mar 2005 16:13:02 -0800, someone wrote:

Would a duplex switch work with me spiltting the black cable assuming
one black wire goies to the vanity and the other to the overhead light
thanks

CALL AN ELECTRICAN, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE DOING OR HOW THIS
WORKS.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

you must be one. Although i am not stupid and know my limitations.
v wrote:
On 31 Mar 2005 16:13:02 -0800, someone wrote:

Would a duplex switch work with me spiltting the black cable
assuming
one black wire goies to the vanity and the other to the overhead
light
thanks

CALL AN ELECTRICAN, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE DOING OR HOW THIS
WORKS.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

On 1 Apr 2005 11:03:21 -0800, someone wrote:

you must be one. Although i am not stupid and know my limitations.

I wired my first "house" which was a 3 story apartment building.

Legal in that city at that time as I was the owner and had applied for
the permit. An unlicensed person could not do work FOR HIRE but could
do his own work with permit & inspection.

Never said you were stupid but apparently you DON'T know your
limitations. As this is somewhat a matter of opinion, go ahead, its
your house.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

In article . com,
david wrote:
hi
I have a total of three wires coming into the box. Two black come to
the right side of the switch and the white wire (this goes to the
electric box) is in a red capping to join electric cables.

Would a duplex switch work with me spiltting the black cable assuming
one black wire goies to the vanity and the other to the overhead light
thanks

Do the tests that I described to verify that the white is the hot (hot
wires should not be white) and that the 2 blacks go to the vanity &
overhead. It everything checks out, then yes you can use a duplex
switch.

Its just as likely (and the colors match) that the 2 blacks go to the
supply and feed another switch/outlet, and the white joins the vanity
and overhead in the "red capping" which I am guessing is a red wire nut.
You can still use a duplex outlet here, but you must properly identify
the supply and load wires.

IMPORTANT: If you are not comfortable making these tests, CALL AN
ELECTRICIAN.

Rich Greenberg wrote:
In article . com,
david wrote:
hi
My Master Bathroom single switch controls nine light one overhead
and 8
on the vanity. Is it possible to put the overhead light and the
vanity
lights on two separate switches.

Yes. How easy it will be depends on how the original wireing was
done.

If you are not comfortable working with electrical circuts, STOP here
and call an electrician.

Otherwise, open up the switch and pull the switch out from the box.
How
many wires are attached to it? If 2, and neither of them is spliced
to
2 others in the box, you probably want to call an electrician.

If there are 3 wires coming into the box and 2 are connected to one
side
of the switch, turn the switch to off and using a test light
determine
which side of the switch is hot. If its the side with 2 wires, you
probably want to call an electrician.

Otherwise, split the 2 wires apart. CAREFULLY touch one then the
other
to the hot side of the switch. If one lites the overhead and the
other
lights the vanity, jackpot. Otherwise put things back and you
probably want to call an electrician.

Turn the power off. Get a duplex switch. Its 2 switches that mount
in
the space of one. It will require a different switch plate. The
duplex
switch will have 4 screws, 2 on each side. Connect the hot to one of
them and add a jumper to the other screw on the same side. (Some
duplex
switches will have this jumper internally and have 2 screws on one
side
and one on the other. The one is the hot connection.) Connect the
wire
to the overhead to one of the other screws and the vanity to the
other.

Put back into the box, put the plate on and apply power. If you have
done everything right, the house won't burn down and the lights will
be
controlled seperately.

Good luck.


--
Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L
Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

In article , (Rich Greenberg) wrote:
In article . com,
david wrote:
hi
I have a total of three wires coming into the box. Two black come to
the right side of the switch and the white wire (this goes to the
electric box) is in a red capping to join electric cables.

Would a duplex switch work with me spiltting the black cable assuming
one black wire goies to the vanity and the other to the overhead light
thanks

Do the tests that I described to verify that the white is the hot (hot
wires should not be white) and that the 2 blacks go to the vanity &
overhead. It everything checks out, then yes you can use a duplex
switch.

Bad advice. Didn't you read what he wrote? "I have a total of three wires
coming into the box... two black ... [one] white".

That's _very_ unlikely to be true. There's probably a fourth wire there
somewhere. If there really are only three, it's probably black, white, and
red, not two blacks and a white.

It's clear enough from what he wrote that the white wire does _not_ connect to
the switch, and therefore it is impossible that it is the hot wire.

Furthermore, his description of how the black wires are connected is
ambiguous: "to the right side of the switch". Does that mean they both connect
to a single terminal on the right and something else connects to a terminal on
the left, or does it mean that both of the switch terminals are on the right
side, and one black wire connects to each one?

You're acting as though it's the former - in which case there *must* be a
fourth wire, and therefore the OP's description is incorrect and should not be
relied on as the basis for giving *any* advice.

And if it's the latter - then what you suggest *can't*possibly* work.

Before giving any further advice to the OP, it's important to find out exactly
where those black wires connect, and exactly how many wires are in the box.
I'm betting that:

a) the switch has two terminals, with one black wire connected to each
terminal, and

b) there are *two* white wires, not one, wire-nutted together, and the OP
simply didn't look carefully before deciding there was only one.


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

thanks
Be assured that i will call an electrician however i would like to
understand it myself.

There are two wires that come into the box lets call them A & B

A - has a white wire(neutral), a ground and a black wire (hot)
B- - has a white wire (neutral), a ground and a black wire (hot)

Both the blacks are connected to the right side of the switch. I see
nothing on the left side of the switch. the two white seemed to be
connect via the wing nut

thanks again for your time and replies