okay i am renovating my kitchen & i moved a light switch & ground fault outlet to a new spot. i thought i rewired it exactly as i unwired it but the lights dont work (outlet does)

here is the set up.

2 recessed lights
power from house comes from 1 recessed light to the other (piggy backed)
outlet borrows power from the same line, also piggy backed from the 1 recessed light

one wire from switch to recessed light #2 (exactly as it was originally)

i am looking at the wiring set up and it seems to me that there should some power going TO the switch, to turn the lights on and off.

the only thing i can think that i missed is that perhaps the switch had a pig tail from the GFI to get juice to it, so that when switch was on, lights got power.

everything else, i did one step at a time to make sure i couldnt possibly fuck it up... i am 100% confident that everything at the lights is wired exactly as it was before i took it apart.

does this make any sense? do i need to tie the switch to the GFI?

 

Any pics of the wirering? I can help ya out based on what I see. Are you saying the main power goes to the lights first, then daisies to the switch and returns? I've seen them run this way, it is improper however. Done properly, there should only be one feed entering into your dual lightswitch outlet box to feed both the switch and the outlet, then a return feeding to the lights, and the lights can daisy chain.

 

hey thanks for the looks but i remembered that i have the exact setup on the other side of the window :doh:

basically i had to run a pigtail from the + terminal on the GFI, then put it on the opposite terminal of the light switch (in the back there is a little hole...)

the first time i ran it, i put it on the same terminal and the lights stayed on 100% of the time :doh: but logic told me to change the terminal and it worked

 

Ah, well that would do it. Glad to hear you are back in business. Can I assume the breaker was tripped before ya did your work?

 

nah it can't kill you [/quote]

that's exactly what the electricians that were putting in additional outlets and switches in our warehouse said when we asked do the breaks need to be tripped.


not sure if they're still a live or not :chuckles:

 

yeah i made sure the wires were dead before i got started... although i thought that the other gfi/switch was on teh same circuit and when i was inspecting how it was wired, i got a little jolt :a: i guess that means it's on a different circuit...

 

Yeah, it's a backfeed circuit. power comes from and goes back to the light on the same wire. the outlet is fed from the switch always hot side.

 

lol yeah, I either trip the breaker.. or if I don't know which one it is, just touch the wires to either the box (should be grounded) or a pair of pliers lying on the floor... puts a solid dent in the too.