All home electrical wires made in the us. One of the screw terminals is a darker color than the other two terminals.
How To Install A Dimmer Light Switch Wiring And Replacement
What does black screw on light switch mean. The switch may have gold and silver colored screws. The black is power and the other two are called travelers that wire to the the. At the first switch location the feeder wire from the power source is a 2 wire cable with ground. This is the hot wire usually colored black but not always and it brings the power from the source and delivers it from one switch to the next and to the light fixture. Its used in conjunction with another 3 way switch in another area and they both control a light or set of lights. On the other end the two white wires are wire nutted together.
The white wire from the new cable connects to the fixtures hot wire terminal or hot wire lead and to the other screw terminal on the switch. The darker terminal is known as the common connection of the switch. The black and red wires from the white cable running between the switches get connected to either of the two brass screws on the switch. The black wire from the new cable connects to the black hot wire in the fixture box and to one of the terminals on the single pole switch. Connect the black wires to the switch terminals. This means that there is a black hot wire a white neutral wire and a bare copper grounding wire.
If so connect the input hot lead to the gold and the lamp hot lead to the silver. Follow standard color codes that identify each wires function in a circuit. The black wire from the circuit breaker panel gets attached to the black screw on the 3 way switch. The most important wire to get right is the one connected to each switchs common screw terminal. While standard single pole switches have two screw terminals on one side of the switch plus a third green grounding screw terminal connected to the metal strap three way switches have three screw terminals plus a ground screw. At this first switch the black feed wire is connected to the common screw on the switch.
The other black wire on your gray switch switch will get thrown away with the switch. The switch simply interrupts the current so it doesnt matter to which terminal you connect either wire. The white and bare wires are connected together and the bare wire is also connected to the green screw on the switch body. It serves as the second hot wire in the switch loop. The black wire hot is switched so both black wires are connected to the switch. Cut the b wire off the gray switch and tie that to the black wire from the existing dimmer and the black wire off the new dimmer and youre golden.
The a wire wrapped around the screw can get thrown out with the switch.
Gallery of What Does Black Screw On Light Switch Mean
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19524564/new_plugs_x.jpg)
