Hello,
I was wondering i f anyone can give me some info as how to go about
the following. I need to extend an existing circuit with 3 additional
lights each on a single pole switch. The switches are going to be
placed in different locations in one room but I would like to wire
them in parallel, in other words, the source goes to one switch and
goes on to the following 2, without interrupting the power when I turn
off one of those lights. A diagram or instreuctions would be great.
Thanks in advance.

On 3 Mar 2007 09:00:40 -0800, wrote:

Hello,
I was wondering i f anyone can give me some info as how to go about
the following. I need to extend an existing circuit with 3 additional
lights each on a single pole switch. The switches are going to be
placed in different locations in one room but I would like to wire
them in parallel, in other words, the source goes to one switch and
goes on to the following 2, without interrupting the power when I turn
off one of those lights. A diagram or instreuctions would be great.
Thanks in advance.

Wiring the switches will be the easy part. Installing the boxes and
getting the wires from box to box will be the problem if you already
have the sheet rock on the walls.

http://tpub.com/content/construction.../14026_155.htm


Here is a pretty good example. There are hundreds.

You would take your feed cable from where you're extending it from, and run
it to the first switch box. Then you'd run another cable from that switch
box to the next and so on. In each box, you connect the whites together and
include the white that is going to the light controlled by that switch. You
connect the black wires from the feed in and out, together, along with a
pigtail to the switch that feeds the light in that box


wrote in message
ps.com...
Hello,
I was wondering i f anyone can give me some info as how to go about
the following. I need to extend an existing circuit with 3 additional
lights each on a single pole switch. The switches are going to be
placed in different locations in one room but I would like to wire
them in parallel, in other words, the source goes to one switch and
goes on to the following 2, without interrupting the power when I turn
off one of those lights. A diagram or instreuctions would be great.
Thanks in advance.

wrote:
Hello,
I was wondering i f anyone can give me some info as how to go about
the following. I need to extend an existing circuit with 3 additional
lights each on a single pole switch. The switches are going to be
placed in different locations in one room but I would like to wire
them in parallel, in other words, the source goes to one switch and
goes on to the following 2, without interrupting the power when I turn
off one of those lights. A diagram or instreuctions would be great.
Thanks in advance.


Is this what you mean? 3 lights, each controlled by a separate
switch? Or did you mean something else?

AC in ------------------------
| | |
.-. .-. .-.
( X ) ( X ) ( X ) Lights
'-' '-' '-'
| | |
| | |
\ o \ o \ o
\ \ \
\. \. \. on/off switches
o o o
| | |
AC in ------------------------
(created by AACircuit v1.28 beta 10/06/04 www.tech-chat.de)

On Mar 3, 2:00 pm, wrote:
Hello,
I was wondering i f anyone can give me some info as how to go about
the following. I need to extend an existing circuit with 3 additional
lights each on a single pole switch. The switches are going to be
placed in different locations in one room but I would like to wire
them in parallel, in other words, the source goes to one switch and
goes on to the following 2, without interrupting the power when I turn
off one of those lights. A diagram or instreuctions would be great.
Thanks in advance.

If you can't work that out it is respectfully suggested that you get
someone competent to help.
Need to ask a question like that perhaps suggests that there are other
aspects of wiring expertise with which you are not familiar such as
how to connect the grounds? Connection of wires within the 'octagon'
boxes etc.

Switches go in the live lead between the supply and the light. The
neutrals (in North American practice anyway) are unswitched.

You have however 'almost' answered your own question.
As you mention the existing circuit is extended to the first switch
which switches on the light associated with it. the wiring then goes
to a second switch which switches/controls its light and so on.

We presume the existing circuit has the capacity for three more
lights? Lighting circuits are often not too heavily loaded but it
should be checked.

However you may be referring to ceiling wired light fixtures?
In that case the extended wiring may go to the first ceiling fixture
box where its live lead (usually black) will go down to a single pole
wall switch to come back up to switch on that light. The wiring will
then go to the second ceiling fixture box where the live lead will
once again go down to a wall switch and come back up to switch on that
light etc. The third one same way. This is something a handy man could
do in less than than an hour.

Colour of wires may be important in some jurisdictions and for
insurance purposes. For example our inspectors 'prefer' red as
'switched live' but will allow a white lead to be a 'switched' live,
provided it is marked.
I sometimes use red tape or red nail polish to identify a white wire
which is a switched live although it is usually pretty obvious, in a
wall switch box, anyway. Otherwise white is generally used for
neutrals.

Use proper wiring practice and materials such as 'wire nuts' etc.
Ground all boxes and ensure ground is continuous from all of them back
to the supply.