Cheers mate, what if you have 2 white wires twisted together and capped off with wire nut, 3 black wires, one is single the other 2 are twisted together with a wire nut and extension coming out to make it one and of course the ground. How does the hook up go if I’m trying to convert it from a dimmer to a regular light switch.
You are going to have a line and a load. It does matter if you are running more than one switch or another outlet to it. One of those blacks is the line or the wire that Carries the electricity. The other wire is your load or the wire that goes from the switch to the light.
Thanks for the video. I do have one or two questions for my own switch I am looking to replace. At the moment we have a rotary dimmer that doesn't work properly anymore so I was looking to replace it with a standard switch. The house was built in the 80s I believe, so the rotary dimmer is a bit older and has 2 black wires coming out of it's back, which are hooked up with wire nuts to a white and black wire in the house. The bare copper grounding wire from the house is tied to a metal bonding screw in the back of the box, it's been cut quite short so I doubt I could extend it somehow to a new switch. I have a non-grounded standard switch from the store, my first question is I was wondering if it would work alright as a replacement. It has no green screw for copper wire, but my understanding is so long as the switch is properly screwed in and hooked up to the box it should count as being grounded, correct? I just don't want to cause any problems or anything if I install the wrong switch or do it incorrectly. There are two other rotary dimmers in the box for 3 switches total, and I believe they are all wired the same way, what and black wires hooked up with wire nuts to the dimmer's 2 black wires and one grounding wire tied into the back of the box. All of the rotary dimmers in the house are starting to feel their age as they're quite resistant when you press them down to turn on, and the caps for some of them have been lost over time as well so I am hoping if I can do this all properly I can replace a bunch of them around the house. Pardon the lengthy comment lol, just thought I should be as detailed as possible with my questions/the specifics of the situation I'm working with.
After removing my dimmer, it had 2-3 wires connected to each 1 wire coming from the back of the switch. Do I connect all 3 to one of the screws or what?
How can you tell if your light is a 3-way? My house has been renovated so many times that when I moved in there were switches that controlled light in other rooms so I often don’t know if there’s another switch somewhere 😱
Question: does the dimmer toggle change anything inside the box “electrical” wise? Or can you just replace it with a regular, non dimming switch? Currently dealing with 1970s dimmers that buzz loudly and I’m trying to replace them with regular switches but scared that the bulbs will still buzz after replacement.
Very good detail about making good contact from wire to screw, and also how to pack wires back into box. Technique is everything.
Cheers mate, what if you have 2 white wires twisted together and capped off with wire nut, 3 black wires, one is single the other 2 are twisted together with a wire nut and extension coming out to make it one and of course the ground. How does the hook up go if I’m trying to convert it from a dimmer to a regular light switch.
Forgot the steps after 20 years after the first time doing this so thank you for the refresher!!!
Woo hoo I did it! Thanks for clear instructions
Great job!
Appreciate the detailed explanation.
Very helpful. I am going to try and replace a light switch myself.
Glad it helped
How do you determine which wire on which terminal when they’re both black?
That’s a really good question! Maybe it doesn’t matter…
I was told it’s the longer black cord on the bottom nail and the shorter on the upper one.
You are going to have a line and a load. It does matter if you are running more than one switch or another outlet to it. One of those blacks is the line or the wire that Carries the electricity. The other wire is your load or the wire that goes from the switch to the light.
Were you able to figure this out? I'm in the same situation where both wires are black.
Yo for real... They're both black, that's the only reason I'm here lol
Thanks for this video! I changed my dimmer to a regular from watching your video. 👏👏
Glad it helped
Thanks for the clear instruction!
Glad it was helpful!
What do you do when all three wires hooked to the dimmer switch were black. I’m trying to switch to a single pole.
Did you find out?
Thanks for the video. I do have one or two questions for my own switch I am looking to replace. At the moment we have a rotary dimmer that doesn't work properly anymore so I was looking to replace it with a standard switch.
The house was built in the 80s I believe, so the rotary dimmer is a bit older and has 2 black wires coming out of it's back, which are hooked up with wire nuts to a white and black wire in the house. The bare copper grounding wire from the house is tied to a metal bonding screw in the back of the box, it's been cut quite short so I doubt I could extend it somehow to a new switch.
I have a non-grounded standard switch from the store, my first question is I was wondering if it would work alright as a replacement. It has no green screw for copper wire, but my understanding is so long as the switch is properly screwed in and hooked up to the box it should count as being grounded, correct? I just don't want to cause any problems or anything if I install the wrong switch or do it incorrectly.
There are two other rotary dimmers in the box for 3 switches total, and I believe they are all wired the same way, what and black wires hooked up with wire nuts to the dimmer's 2 black wires and one grounding wire tied into the back of the box. All of the rotary dimmers in the house are starting to feel their age as they're quite resistant when you press them down to turn on, and the caps for some of them have been lost over time as well so I am hoping if I can do this all properly I can replace a bunch of them around the house.
Pardon the lengthy comment lol, just thought I should be as detailed as possible with my questions/the specifics of the situation I'm working with.
After removing my dimmer, it had 2-3 wires connected to each 1 wire coming from the back of the switch. Do I connect all 3 to one of the screws or what?
Awesome content! Thanks!
My pleasure!
How do you know which wire is which? I always know ground but the other ones confuse me
How can you tell if your light is a 3-way? My house has been renovated so many times that when I moved in there were switches that controlled light in other rooms so I often don’t know if there’s another switch somewhere 😱
Can u do the reverse and switch any regular switch into a dimmer switch?
Thanks 👍
You’re welcome 😊 I'm happy that my video was helpful. Don't for to subscribe and hit the thumbs up.
What if there are just two wires in the box? Red and black? What should I do without the third wire which is supposed to go to left screw?
Great video.
Thanks!
Did you cancel the red wire(s)??
Question: does the dimmer toggle change anything inside the box “electrical” wise? Or can you just replace it with a regular, non dimming switch? Currently dealing with 1970s dimmers that buzz loudly and I’m trying to replace them with regular switches but scared that the bulbs will still buzz after replacement.
You should be able to just replace the old dimmer with a new switch
Thanks...Nicely Explained
Glad you liked it
Very well done. Simple and uncomplicated explanation. Thanks for the help.....
Thanks for explaining it so simply & clearly, this was a huge help!
What about the red wire?
Do you just leave the red wires uncapped inside the box?
You should put a wire nut on it just to be safe. Thanks for the visit.
Both wires live and neutral. And ground. Two black and one white
?