How to wire a 220v light (on/off) switch, which wires go where to which nuts?
Question:I have a 220 v 20amp breaker the controls lighting in shop, want to add an on/off switch between the breaker and the lights so I can turn on the lights when I enter the shop; there are two hots (120v) lines and a ground to the light fixtures; my switch is a 20 amp switch with 2 load nuts and 2 line nuts(one each on each side of the switch); and one green ground nut; where do I attach the hots from the breaker to the switch and where do I attach the hots from the switch to the fixture and finally where does the ground wire from the fixture and from the breaker attach to the switch..Thanks for the help!!
Answers:
Connect the two hot wires from your panel to the line side (Screws) of the switch and the two "hot" wires from your light go to the load side of the switch. Connect all the ground wires together with a marrett (size333) and with a 4 inch piece of wire (pigtail) from that marrett, connect to the green screw on your switch. Connect all the white (neutrals) together with another marrett if there are any. Normally neutrals are not present in 220V circuits.
3 wires are together in 120vlt lines,white is negative, black is hot and green is ground. the switch interrups the hot wire, so you must cut into the black wire to the lights,one cut end from service side to ''load'' on switch, the other cut end going to the lights goes to the ''line'' on the switch. hope this gets you what you want.
Be sure that your switch controls both 120 legs before your wire it up. It's a common mistake to use the wrong type of switch in a 220V circuit. Doing so is all bad. I'd recommend the use of a test meter to verify the switch circuit path. Remember that the swtich must completely isolate each leg from the other for this to work.
"Line" is the breaker side and "Load" is the light side. Tie the ground wires from the breaker and fixture together and use a pigtail to connect to the green (ground) screw on the switch. Tie all the neutrals together in a similar manner but do not connect to the switch.
Black on brass,white on silver, green is ground go down.
Black,Blue,Red, can all be hot
More Related Questions & Answers...