I've been attempting to solve this myself by reading the diagrams included with the bathroom fan/light/night light combo and for the switch... but none of those diagrams helped me.
I'll include pictures at the bottom to make it easier understand what's going on over here... heh
I bought a bathroom fan/light/night light combo unit, due to our old bathroom fan/light sounding like a lawnmower. I haven't attempted to replace the unit just yet... I'm stuck on replacing the switch. I had two three-way(?) switches on the wall. One for the light (left) and one for the fan (right). I bought a double switch (has two switches in place of one) to replace the one for the light, so that I can turn on regular light or night light.
The original setup for the fan switch:
Red wire goes to the bottom hole (not sure what it's called). Black shared wire goes into the top hole. Shared ground wire goes onto the green screw. Two yellow screws on the right are unused (unless the holes are directly connected to them?).
The original setup for the light switch (it was just one light, so it's just on/off):
Shared ground wire attached to the top green screw. Shared black wire attached to the top yellow screw. Another black wire attached to the bottom hole.
There are two white wires inside the box which are connected, capped, and not attached to any of the switches... I'm assuming it connects to the light.
Here's a broader view of the original setup, box, etc.:
Ground wire connects the two green screws, and goes into the box. Shared black wire connects the two top connectors (screw on left, hole on right). Black wire goes onto bottom of left switch. Red wire goes onto the bottom of right switch (not sure how or why that is or how it works).
Box is messy.... I didn't make it, but as you can see the white wires don't go to any of the switches:
My new setup (the light switch is on the right in this picture, it would be on the left after, it's just there for ease of work at this point):
It obviously doesn't work, and I'll explain why further down. I disconnected the switch on the left, because that's the switch that controls the light, so that's what I need to replace. I connected the shared ground wire to the green screw. I connected the shared black wire to the top black screw. I connected the single black wire to the bottom black screw. (Switching those block wires yields same result....). Basically... the light is on constantly and cannot be turned off. NOTE (again): I moved the light switch to the right on this picture, but it would be on the left (it was just easier to work on it in that position).
That's how the new switch looks from the front:
So yeah, the light are constantly on and cannot be turned off. I have no idea if I should put any of the existing wires onto the yellow screws on the new switch (there are three of them... two next to each other and then 1 separated by a larger tab). There is also a metal tab that is between two black screws... not sure if that needs to be removed?
Please help me... I've tried reading on internet and in my home depot book on how to fix this, but I just can't figure it out. Do I need to redo the whole box for a new setup? How should it look if so?
I'll include pictures at the bottom to make it easier understand what's going on over here... heh
I bought a bathroom fan/light/night light combo unit, due to our old bathroom fan/light sounding like a lawnmower. I haven't attempted to replace the unit just yet... I'm stuck on replacing the switch. I had two three-way(?) switches on the wall. One for the light (left) and one for the fan (right). I bought a double switch (has two switches in place of one) to replace the one for the light, so that I can turn on regular light or night light.
The original setup for the fan switch:
Red wire goes to the bottom hole (not sure what it's called). Black shared wire goes into the top hole. Shared ground wire goes onto the green screw. Two yellow screws on the right are unused (unless the holes are directly connected to them?).
The original setup for the light switch (it was just one light, so it's just on/off):
Shared ground wire attached to the top green screw. Shared black wire attached to the top yellow screw. Another black wire attached to the bottom hole.
There are two white wires inside the box which are connected, capped, and not attached to any of the switches... I'm assuming it connects to the light.
Here's a broader view of the original setup, box, etc.:
Ground wire connects the two green screws, and goes into the box. Shared black wire connects the two top connectors (screw on left, hole on right). Black wire goes onto bottom of left switch. Red wire goes onto the bottom of right switch (not sure how or why that is or how it works).
Box is messy.... I didn't make it, but as you can see the white wires don't go to any of the switches:
My new setup (the light switch is on the right in this picture, it would be on the left after, it's just there for ease of work at this point):
It obviously doesn't work, and I'll explain why further down. I disconnected the switch on the left, because that's the switch that controls the light, so that's what I need to replace. I connected the shared ground wire to the green screw. I connected the shared black wire to the top black screw. I connected the single black wire to the bottom black screw. (Switching those block wires yields same result....). Basically... the light is on constantly and cannot be turned off. NOTE (again): I moved the light switch to the right on this picture, but it would be on the left (it was just easier to work on it in that position).
That's how the new switch looks from the front:
So yeah, the light are constantly on and cannot be turned off. I have no idea if I should put any of the existing wires onto the yellow screws on the new switch (there are three of them... two next to each other and then 1 separated by a larger tab). There is also a metal tab that is between two black screws... not sure if that needs to be removed?
Please help me... I've tried reading on internet and in my home depot book on how to fix this, but I just can't figure it out. Do I need to redo the whole box for a new setup? How should it look if so?