|
Posted by ehsjr on October 4, 2007, 12:56 pm
OneSolution wrote:
> How can I wire this light switch that expects three wires but I have only
> two coming from my circular flourescent ceiling light?
>
> I bought the Legrand "WattStopper RS-150BA-N Vacancy Sensor Switch with
> Nightlight and Manual on/off" whose specifications say it's for a "single
> pole circuit", 120V/60hz, 1/6HP fan, 0-600 watt incandescent or flourescent
> light.
>
> The switch has four (4) wires labelled
> 1. black = hot
> 2. white = neutral
> 3. red = load
> 4. green = ground
>
> The instructions say
> a. Connect the green wire on the switch to bare wire ground (if any)
> b. Connect the white wire on the switch to the "neutral wire"
> c. Connect the black wire on the switch to the "power wire"
> d. Connect the red wire on the switch to the "load"
>
> The problem is the box in the wall has only two wires.
> 1. black
> 2. white
>
> The ground is optional so what I'm confused about is how to connect the
> white wire from the circuit. Do I connect it to the red wire or the white
> wire on the switch? There are no other wires in the brown plastic box.
>
> I keep calling the technical support number 888-817-0571 but it always says
> it's temporarily unavailable.
>
> Can you advise me how to wire black/white/red on the switch to black/white
> in the wall?
Your new sensor switch needs a hot and a neutral to power the
sensor circuitry in the switch. That takes 2 wires. In addition,
it switches a load on/off, so you need an additional wire from
the switch to the load. Finally, it needs a fourth wire if it is
to be grounded, as it should be.
Ignoring ground, you have only 2 wires, so your switch cannot
work in that location, unless you do some rewiring. Perhaps a
diagram will make this clear:
EXISTING CIRCUIT
Load J-box Switch box
---------- ----------
Hot -----|----------|-------------|-----+ |
| | | | |
| | | |> | |
| | | | |
Neutral -|--+ +--|-------------|--------+ |
| | | | | |
---------- ----------
| |
Light Fixture
Note that there is no neutral wire inside the switch junction
box. Therefore, your sensor switch does not get the power it
needs. Here's a diagram of what the wiring would need to look
like for your sensor switch to work:
Load J-box Switch box
---------- -------------
Hot -----|----------|-------------|-----+--+ |
| | | | | |
| +-------|-------------|-CKT-+ |> | |
| | | | | |
Neutral -|--+ +--|-------------|-----------+ |
| | | | | |
---------- -------------
| |
Light Fixture
With the wiring above, the sensor circuit (CKT in the diagram)
gets the hot and neutral connections it needs to operate.
There is another way that wiring can run. It does not apply
to your situation (because your power feed is to the junction
box with the light fixture), but I'll diagram it for reference:
Load J-box Switch box
---------- ----------
| | | +--------|--- Hot
| | | | |
| | | |> | |
| | | | |
| +-------|-------------|----+ |
| | | | |
| | +--|-------------|----------|--- Neutral
| | | | | |
---------- ----------
| |
Light Fixture
Note that in the diagram above 2 cables, each containing
a white wire, a black wire and a ground wire (ground wire
not shown) run into the junction box where the switch
is located. (In your case, you have only 1 cable.)
Power feed is to the switch box in the diagram above,
not to the fixture box as is the case with your existing
wiring.
Ed
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap