HOME WIRING REPAIRS IN THE REAL WORLD

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Also, before you go grabbing your tools, I would like to clear up any confusion concerning cables and wires. A wire is a singular entity; a cable is made up of two or more wires wrapped within a common covering or jacket. By slitting the jacket of a cable, you can reveal the individual wires inside. In common house wiring, the wires are categorized as hot, neutral, and ground wires. Hot wires, which carry 120 volts to the work to be done, are always black or red with the following common exception: a white wire with its ends taped or painted black is also hot. Neutral wires, which carry power back to the distribution box after it has done its work, are colored white. Ground wires can be bare or they, can have green insulation. Their job is to safely channel any power back to the earth that has "leaked" onto metal components in the electrical circuit, thereby reducing shock hazards.

Project 1: Replacing a Switch

Now that your brain and your tool belt are overflowing, let's start with the replacement of a single-pole switch. Make sure your circuit is dead, then remove the coverplate and switch retaining screws. Gently pull the switch out of the box. You may see many more wires in the box than you expected. That's because boxes aren't just used to house things like .switches; they're also used as junctions to connect cables going to different places. In a typical box, you might find one cable bringing in the power, another cable exiting to the light fixture, and still another carrying the power on to the next switch or receptacle. With an average of three wires (hot, neutral, and ground) in each cable, it can get a little crowded in there. But don't be alarmed about how many wires you see; just focus on the ones that connect directly to the switch.

A single-pole switch has two side terminal screws (usually brass or silver) and it may or may not have a green ground terminal screw. Take the two hot wires off of the old switch and put them on the new one's brass or silver terminals — either wire on either terminal — it doesn't matter. The ground wire in the box, which is bare copper or green, attaches to the green terminal of the switch. (If no ground wire or grounding terminal is available and for more tips on grounding, see "Get Grounded," page SG). Be sure to install the switch with "OFF" in the down position.

The replacement of a three-way switch, as one of a pair controlling a light from two locations, is done in the same fashion up to the attachment of the hot wires. Notice that the three-way has one black- or copper-colored terminal and two brass- or silver-colored terminals with a combination of black, red, or white wires connected to them. Remove one wire at a time from the old switch and connect it to the corresponding terminal on the new switch for a foolproof job. Also, connect the ground wire to the switch's green terminal screw. There is no "ON" or "OFF" on a three-way switch, so it can't be installed upside down.

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