The black is the “hot” wire, the white is the neutral, and the copper is the ground. When you put a switch in a circuit you now have 6 wires – three coming in and three going out. Since the switch cuts the power on and off, there will be a black wire coming into the switch and a black wire leaving.

How do you wire a light switch with 4 black wires?

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The power supply will cook to the common screw which is the black screw. Okay now joining this box over the first switch to the second switch is going to be a piece of 14-3 cable.

What are the 4 wires in a light switch?





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  • The A wire (black) connects to the hot (black) wire from the power source.
  • The B wire (blue) connects to the other wire from the load.
  • The C wire (red) is not used and is capped with a wire nut.
  • The D wire (green) connects to the ground.


How do you wire a light switch with 4 terminals?

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We then run a brown cable from l1 or switch one over to l4 of switch two. We then run a brown cable from l2 of switch two over to l2 or switch three.

How do you wire a 4 wire switch?

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One wire on each of the brass screws it doesn't matter which color goes on which brass screw. Then you take the two wires that are going to box number three.

How do you wire a ceiling with 4 wires?





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You'll have four terminal blocks they'll have three screws for your neutral wires you'll have three screws for your loop or live wires.

Which black wire is hot on a light switch?

The black wire is the “hot” wire, it carries the electricity from the breaker panel into the switch or light source. The white wire is the “neutral” wire, it takes any unused electricity and current and sends it back to the breaker panel.

What is the 4th wire for?

The 4th wire in that cord and plug configuration is an equipment grounding conductor. This equipment grounding conductor is the missing wire in the older 3-wire configurations. In these older appliance installations where 3-wire cords were legally installed, the wiring consisted of two hot wires and a neutral wire.

What is 4 wire used for?

Four-wire is used for “two-way” circuits, and for cases where two circuits are running to the same place (independent control of a ceiling fan and its lights, for example). In the US color coding conventions, red is the “second hot” needed for these applications.

Do all light switches have 4 wires?



A light switch has 4 wires sometimes – 2 white and 2 black wires. The whites are connected together with a short third wire; which is called a pigtail, connecting to the silver screw on the pull chain fixture.

What is a 4 way switch used for?

4-Way Switches



Four-way switches are used to control lighting from three or more locations. Four-way switches are used in combination with 3-way switches. There are four terminals that provide two sets of toggle positions on a 4-way switch.

What does a 4 way switch look like?

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You will notice that this switch has four terminals not counting the ground. The other two switches on the left and the right are three ways notice that these two switches.

What color wire goes to the black screw on a 4 way switch?



The white wire from the power source will attach to the light’s white wire. The light’s black wire should be attached to the black wire running to the first switch. At the switch the white wire (hot) coming from the light, will be connected to the dark colored screw.

What color wire goes to the black screw on a light switch?

The black wire goes up to the light through the yellow cable. The green ground screw on the switch is used to connect the two grounds. The black screw can get either the wire from the electrical panel or the wire going to the light.

Does black wire go on black screw?

As marked before from the original switch, one wire (either power in, or the wire to the light fixture) goes to the black terminal, two wires go to the brass screws, and the bare copper wire (not visible here) goes to the ground screw.

What color wire goes to the black screw?

A black or red-hot wire usually connects to a brass-colored screw terminal or black wire lead on electrical devices. A white neutral wire usually connects to a silver-colored terminal or white wire lead.

Does it matter which wire goes where on a light switch?



It doesn’t matter as long as you do it the same on both switches. So, if you connect it to the upper right terminal on one switch, connect it to the upper right terminal on the other switch. Connect the second traveler wire to the terminal opposite the red wire terminal.

What is a black screw on a switch?

The black screw has the black (common) wire that runs up to the light through the yellow cable. The two grounds are connected together and then to the green ground screw on the switch. To summarize, the black screw gets either the wire from the electrical panel or the wire going to the light.

Which wire is positive when both are black?

If the multi-colored wire is black and red, the black wire is the negative wire, while the red one is positive. If both wires are black but one has a white stripe, the striped wire is negative, while the plain black wire is positive. Look in the owner manual to determine which wires are negative in a car.

How can you tell which wire is positive?

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That's designating positive so two wire rib side corresponds to the wide blade on the plug smooth side designates the straight prong on the plug. So general rule of thumb.

How do you wire a switch with two black wires?



Connect the top screw to the wire that feeds to the light. Connect the bottom screw to the hot wire. When you turn the power back on, and if you want to swap the direction of the switch (as in press down to turn off, or turn on), turn off the power and switch the two black wires.