# Switch rewiring help (adding a swtich)



## Dimeron (Jan 4, 2011)

Hello, just wondering if anyone can help me with this, here's the current situation.

For my powder room, one switch is used to control both the fan and the lights. It is a simple two way switch. In the switch box, I have.

2 black wires joined together, the resulting single wire is connected to one of the switch's screws.

1 single red wire, the red wire is connected to the switch's other wire.

2 white wires (ground), which are capped together.

2 bronze wires that are screwed to the switch box itself.

Now, I wish to alter it so both the fan and the light gets its own switch, so instead of one switch that controls both I will have two switches, one for light and one for the fan. So far I figure that:

The white wires can be left capped together
the 2 bronze wires will be screwed to the new switch box that is big enough for two switches
The black wires need to be separated again, each black wire corresponds to the light or the fan.

but I'm at complete lose on how to handle the red wire, since the red wire is the other hot wire for the switch.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## nealtw (Jan 4, 2011)

copper is ground conected to box yes
whites are nuetral all tied together
it sounds like your red is hot and the two black are the light and fan
If I am right you would have a black to each switch and 
join 2 wires to the red and one to each switch other screw.


usually when you find a red wire there will be hot black wire there too. It will be on a different breaker so be carefull. the 2 breakers {should }be tied together 
To save wire the use a 3 wire ,2 circuts using one common and one ground


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## JoeD (Jan 4, 2011)

Sounds like you have a unswitched feed leaving that box. You may not be able to do this without a new cable to the fan/light. You need to open the fan/light and tell us the wiring up there.


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## kok328 (Jan 4, 2011)

In addition to the info. JoeD requested, we would also benefit from knowing which wire is hot with the switch turned off (the blacks or the red).
I'm kinda thinkin nealtw has figured out what is going on.


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## nealtw (Jan 4, 2011)

It would be good to know the colours of wires in light and fan .
The black could be live feeding a plug or??
I would like to here another 2 black wires tied together in the back of the first box.
There should be a reason for a red wire!!


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## Parrothead (Jan 5, 2011)

Without further information, I am guessing that the OP has it backwards, and the two blacks are hot and the the red is the only switched wire going to both the fan and light. If this is the case, another wire would have to be fished to the fan/light to provide the additional switching.


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## nealtw (Jan 5, 2011)

we need Dimeron to tell us what he has found. I suspect he has it finnished and forgot about us.


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