Circuit blows when i turn off switch

joeg679

I just wired a heat lamp and it turns on but when I turn the switch off it blows the circuit. What could be the problem?

nap

is the breaker an AFCI or GFCI breaker?

what is the current draw of the lamp?

waterman1971

Polarity?

joeg679

I'm not sure about the draw or if it's gfci. It's a nutone 9422p lamp

joeg679

Could it be the switch? I'm using a 15a 120v light switch

dmxtothemax

The switch could be drawing an arc,
This could cause blowing of the circuit,
Try replacing the switch.

mustangmike3789

You may have it wired wrong. your white wires should be tied together and the black wires go to the switch.

joed

You have miswired a switch loop. You are actually turning on the switch. Did you "fix" a problem when you found a white connected a bunch of blacks at the fixture? It is supposed to be connected to the blacks.

__________________
Do not PM with questions that can be asked in a forum. I will not respond.

joeg679

When I turned on the power after I originally hooked up the switch it was set to on and I thought everything was fine, then I turned it off and the breaker went off. So, I switched the black and white wires on the switch and turned the breaker back on and the light worked and when I turned it off, the breaker went again. The old heat fan that was there ha2 2 sets of romex going to it. One set went to a plug and the other went to another plug and those plugs connected together to give the fan power. One of the romex goes to the switch and I think the other one goes to a vanity light that's in there, but I'm not sure. I put the 2 blacks and connected them to the black and red from the lamp and the 2 whites and connected them to the white from the lamp. Are you saying that one of the whites should have gone to the blacks and red?

joed

Tell us ALL the cables and how they are connected at the light.
Tell us all the cables and connections at the switch.

You could also do this test. Disconnect one of the wires from the switch and cap it. Turn on the breaker. I am going to bet the light comes on.

__________________
Do not PM with questions that can be asked in a forum. I will not respond.

joeg679

I tried to insert a drawing, but it didn't work. There are 2 pieces of romex going to the heat lamp (there was an in ceiling heater there before). One of those pieces goes to the switch and the other one goes either to the exhaust fan or the vanity light. There are 3 switches on the wall--one controls the vanity light, one controls the exhaust fan and there was a sort of thermostat that turned the old heater on. I took out the old heater and was left with 2 blacks, 2 whites and 2 grounds, in the ceiling. I put the 2 blacks together and connected them to the black and red from the lamp and put the two whites together and connected them to the white from the lamp.

AllanJ

Disconnect all four wires up at the heat lamp.

Turn on the breaker. Measure the voltage between every combination of two wires (excluding ground wires) up there. Flip the switch and repeat these measurements.

You should find that exactly one combination shows 120 volts and it is the two wires from the same Romex cable (that goes to the power source).

Now measure voltage between ground and each black or white wire in turn. Only the black that gave a 120 volt reading should give a 120 volt reading this time.

Turn off the breaker.

If everything checks out as I described then connect the other black wire (without a 120 volt reading) to the heat lamp black. Connect the white from the hot Romex cable to the heat lamp white. Connect the remaining two wires (one from each cable, one black, one white) together. (The cable with no hot readings went to the switch)

__________________
The disadvantages of crab apple trees. In summer, the apples are too sour to pick and eat. In winter the birds come and leave dropping all over the place.

DangerMouse

How to attach a photo to a post

DM

__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Click
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
to see some of my original magic tricks and trick boxes!

mustangmike3789

is this a heat lamp only or is it a light/fan/ heatlamp unit.

joeg679

Just a heat lamp. I'm away from it now so I can't test the wires.