Live in the USA. Just completed a basic electricity course, but this situation wasn't covered. Trying to replace a faulty combo switch/receptacle. The switch controls my garbage disposal. When I opened the electrical box, discovered that are two cables (A) and (B) at the top of the box and one cable at the bottom of the box (C). Each cable has two wires (excluding the ground wire) . Using my tester, learned cable A contains the "hot" wire". Connected the hot, neutral and ground wires of Cable A to the switch/recep using the proper terminal screws, but do not know how the remaining wires of B and C should be pigtailed together. Have taken care of the ground wires. At this point, the outlet is hot all the time, but I have no power to the switch at all. This has been especially difficult since all the wires are the same color. Thanks you so much for your help. Feel that I'm close to nailing this finally.
More Wires than I Anticipated
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You say that A and B were both at the top. Does this mean they both went in to the same set of terminals? You say A is the hot cable, is B definitely dead when it is connected to nothing?
From what you say it sounds like:
A is the cable coming from the supply,
B is a cable leading on to another switch or receptacle,
C is the cable from the switched side of the switch to the disposal unit.
If A and B were connected together (A hot to B hot, A neutral to B neutral) before you started, it is likely they should be together on the new switch too!
If my hunch is correct (which assumes I have understood precisely what you are saying) then C needs to be connected to a second set of terminals, which will be the output of the switch. Which will allow you to switch your disposal on.
If you still can't fathom the switch, perhaps it is worth consulting your electricity course lecturer. Either way you should definitely buy a how-to book on the subject, it would be a good investment and after reading that your knowledge and confidence will improve. There is only so much they can cover in a basic course, the book should teach you more and will be a reference guide.
Good luck.
From what you say it sounds like:
A is the cable coming from the supply,
B is a cable leading on to another switch or receptacle,
C is the cable from the switched side of the switch to the disposal unit.
If A and B were connected together (A hot to B hot, A neutral to B neutral) before you started, it is likely they should be together on the new switch too!
If my hunch is correct (which assumes I have understood precisely what you are saying) then C needs to be connected to a second set of terminals, which will be the output of the switch. Which will allow you to switch your disposal on.
If you still can't fathom the switch, perhaps it is worth consulting your electricity course lecturer. Either way you should definitely buy a how-to book on the subject, it would be a good investment and after reading that your knowledge and confidence will improve. There is only so much they can cover in a basic course, the book should teach you more and will be a reference guide.
Good luck.
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