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Posted by Craig M on November 26, 2007, 2:19 pm
I got wordy for the ones that have never worked with wire, switch, outlet,
and fixtures
>> Tossing my 2 cents worth in here, in a common switched curcit, the hot
>> and
>> neutral will be of the same length maybe the difference of the switch
>> itself, here is how, the romex comes from the breaker at the main panel ,
>> goes to a switch box on the wall, then another length of romex goes to
>> the
>> outlet or fixture and is attached to the leads of the fixture or outlet,
>> back at the switch box, the grounds are wire nutted togetther and a
>> pig-tail
>> goes to the ground screw on the switch, the whites are wire nutted
>> together
>> and the blacks go to the switch screws to make the circuit, so for the
>> most
>> part, the conductors are the same length.
>
> Switches can be wired in two ways:
>
> 1) Power goes to switch first, then switched hot and neutral goes
> to light fixture. This is what you've described above (in a lot
> more words ;-).
>
> 2) Power feed goes to the light first. The neutral is attached to the
> fixture. Then, the hot feed goes to the switch, and a switched
> hot comes back to the fixture. These are called "switch loops",
> and what I was referring to earlier.
>
> I prefer to do 1, but 2 is perfectly legal, and I've seen some
> books recommending it. It can be somewhat advantageous in
> certain circumstances.
>
> In (1) the hot and neutral are the same length. More-or-less.
>
> In (2) the hot is longer than the neutral - by twice the length
> of the cable going from the fixture to the switch.
> --
> Chris Lewis,
>
> Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
> It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.
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