Wiring two HS200's side by side
Wiring two HS200's side by side
I bought two HS200S and I am installing them into a an existing light switch box that has two switches side by side, one for kitchen lights and the other one for an outdoor porch light. I noticed there are no white wires going to neither one of the switches, and there are no grounds. But I read that the neutral wires are sometimes pushed back into the box (like mine is) only thing, there are two sets of white wires bundles up and capped with wire nuts. I am not sure which set to use.
Can the white neutral wires on BOTH switches be capped together with the white wires that are inside the box? I hope this made sense. I have always installed standard switches before, but this is confusing me. Enclosed is a photo with the two sets of white wires. The white set on top looks larger, and the white set on bottom looks smaller with a smaller cap. Not sure which to use.
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@Frostbyte Leave the jumper wire out, just connect one black of each HS200 to the wire from the box that is feeding the jumper.
Add the whites lead from each HS200 to the group of neutral wires.
Add the greens lead from each HS200 to the group of ground wires.
Connect the load wire from each switch to the last black lead of the HS200.
Let us know how it goes
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@Frostbyte You do have grounds, they are the wires with the smaller wire nut at the bottom of the picture.
The 3 white wires with the larger wire nut at the top of the picture is your neutral.
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@B.Will Thank you B,Will.
Ohh....I didn't know those were grounds. I always wondered why extra wires were in the boxes with a wire nuts on them, I always assumed they were the main wires or something. I was always afraid to even mess with them. I enclosed another photo of the existing two old switches. I assume I can cross the black wires from one HS200 to the second HS200?
Thanks again! :)
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@Frostbyte Leave the jumper wire out, just connect one black of each HS200 to the wire from the box that is feeding the jumper.
Add the whites lead from each HS200 to the group of neutral wires.
Add the greens lead from each HS200 to the group of ground wires.
Connect the load wire from each switch to the last black lead of the HS200.
Let us know how it goes
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Sounds good, thank you so much! . I'll try and tackle it tomorrow or this week sometime. I will let ya know. I am glad they have this forum and good folks like yourself to help. Thanks again!
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@B.Will I installed both switches as per your instructions and it went smooth and flawless. Thank you again! I could never have done this without your help. I did them both in less than 30 minutes.
Only have a minor concern (hope it's minor), is on the wire that leads from the box that feeds the jumper, in the middle of the cable is a bare wire that looped around the screw on one of the old switches. I put electrical tape around the bare loop, if that is ok? The box was sort of cramped for space but everything fit in. I attached all the wire nuts to all of the wires very snuggly and as tight as I could turn them. The phone app works fine, and very fast.
Thanks again, will.... much appreciated.
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@B.Will Update..everything's working good after a week and a belated thank you on the tape!
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@Frostbyte Your Welcome
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From your picture, I think you mean that the single line wire has insulation stripped part-way to accommodate the screw terminal on the left switch and then continues as the same single continuous wire on to the second switch. This should never have been done like this in the first place!!!
You should NOT use tape in this situation - cut the wire off at the point where the insulation is stripped and make the connections to the new switches at this now new end of the wire. i.e. Line wire from new switch 1 and line wire from new switch 2 will join together with that now cut off wire. There appears to be adequate length to accommodate that.
That wire is LIVE - remember to turn off the power at the breaker before you cut it!
Frostbyte wrote
.... a minor concern (hope it's minor), is on the wire that leads from the box that feeds the jumper, in the middle of the cable is a bare wire that looped around the screw on one of the old switches. I put electrical tape around the bare loop, if that is ok?
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@Bethel.8009 Yes, I think most of the switches in my house are done that way. It didn't seem right to me they were done like that, but I dont know electrical so assumed it was done correctly.. I will have to do like you mentioned when I return home. Will the tape be ok for the time being, like a week or two as long as its not a fire hazard? Or should I avoid turning on that light with my phone?
I was going to ask why the neutral and ground wires were not used in the first place, instead they were tied off and stashed behind the switch as shown in my photo? Thank you.
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