What Is The Red Wire In A Light Switch

A return wire which carries the load to the fixture and may be black red or any other color except green.

What is the red wire in a light switch. Another is that the box is on a circuit three way switch loop. In standard 120 volt wiring the hot wire is black but it can also be red. So the red wire is probably the one you want. We ll cover the easier scenario first.

Or it could be the red wire is the wire going to the fixture and the black wires are the live wires. A one way light switch has two terminals which is a common marked as com or c. Twist the two copper wires in the first box together and attach them to the ground nut on the switch. The common is for the live wire that supplies the input voltage to the switch.

In my friend s case the solution was simple if not intuitive. If the electrical box was previously used for a fan the wall switch is probably a two pole switch. The switch it is connected to is a dimmer switch with an on off button as well as a dimmer slider. It could be there is or once was a three way switch in play.

But in places like a bathroom or a wall light if you see a red wire it s a good bet that the red wire is the wire that s connected to the light switch. In a three conductor cable the extra wire is red and it s almost always used as a hot wire. One is that the outlet is a 240 volt one which requires an extra hot wire. The other terminal is marked as l1 and is the output to the light fixture.

When you see a red wire in a light switch box it can mean two things. An incoming hot wire which is black. Either disconnect the red wire from the switch or replace the switch with a single pole version. Wiring a one way switch.

Normally you ll see a red wire in places you would expect a ceiling fan. The red wire in the ceiling fan or light fixture wiring electrical question. Two or three wires will be attached to the switch. I am trying to replace a ceiling light fixture.

Consult the instructions that came with the light for the proper wire connections. Check the wire with a non contact voltage tester with the power and. The red wire is for the light switch. And sometimes a grounding wire which is green or bare copper there may be other wires in the box but you are only dealing with the ones connected directly to the switch.

Going out of both boxes and into your light fixture will be 14 3 wire which has a black wire hot a white wire neutral a red wire traveler and a bare copper wire ground. The exact purpose of a red wire for a light fixture can vary.