Please help,having wiring problems

Broker123

Hello I need seriouse help! In my situation I have a three switch, one for the light, one for the vent fan, and one for the heater. This is in a bathroom rent house. My problem is that when I turn the switch on for the light, the light and fan turn on, when I switch the heater on, that switch does nothing, the same when I switch the fan on. The wall plate is labeled: light, fan, heater. So what I attempted to do is put a switch outlet combo in. I have two black wires, two white wires and a ground. So I put the black wires on brass and the white wires on black,( they are black screws instead of silver, not sure if I got the right kind of switch). So when I did that, when I turn the switch on, the fan turns on, but no light, also when the switch is on the outlet is hot.( which fine that is how I want it). But what did I do wrong, why does fan work but not the light. I my biggest fear is that I might have made a fire hazard. Please help and tell me if what have done is safe, and maybe help me figure out how to turn the fan and light on with the same switch.. Thank you for all your input, have trouble falling asleep, keep thinking the house might burn down.. Sorry for the long post

frenchelectrican

As soon I did see one word " rent " you should stop right there and call in the landlord and let them know the sistuation you are in and they will call electrican to come out and fix it properly.

Merci,
Marc

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The answer will be based on NEC ( National Electrical code ) or CEC ( Cananda Electrical code ) or ECF ( Electrique Code France )

Speedy Petey

Then CALL THE LANDLORD!

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Sometimes I feel like if I answer any more questions it is like someone trying to climb over a fence to jump off a bridge and me giving them a boost.

dmxtothemax

If there are three things to control
fan , heater , light .
There should be three black wires,
Not two !
Ideally you should have
one white for neutral.
Three blacks for hots.
And one earth.

You said you have 2 x whites
and two blacks !
Why ???

hammerlane

You need to provide a diagram of all cables in the box, where the wires from each cable are going to and all devices in the box. It appears that you have 2 single pole switches and one single pole switch/receptacle combo?

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jbfan

Forget providing anything except a phone call to the landlord!!

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hammerlane

How do you know the poster is not the landlord?

Why assume that the landlord will call a sparky to fix the problem? Maybe landlord will try to fix himself and maybe landlord knows less than poster???

Broker123

Hey I am the landlord, the old three switch that was in there looked like everything was piggy backed, but the heater did not work, but I do not think the fan itself even has a heater on it, that's why I thought I could wire an outlet switch. The switch that I have has the switch at top, outlet at bottom. Brass at top right, brass at bottom left, two black screws in the middle on right side, and ground in middle left side. So I put black on brass, white on black, I can get the fan on, and outlet hot, but no light. I think both hot and both neutral are all on same breaker, b/ c when I killed power to work on it, it just took one breaker.. Thanks for any input, just want to make sure I'm not going to light the house up. I thOught I was safe as long as I put black on brass a white on silver, however I do not have silver, I have black

hammerlane

What is a three switch??

If you turn the combo device around wouldnt the outlet be at top and switch at the bottom?

Watch this possibly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0N58ZOpUQc

Broker123

Hey ok thanks for all who have already posted. Here is what the deal is: I have a hot,neutral,&ground from the breaker. I have a hot,neutral,&ground from the fixture itself. I put the hot from breaker on brass on my switch side, and I put the hot from the fixture on my outlet side.(I have a switch on top,and an outlet on bottom) so have that when I turn the switch On the fan comes on, but no light, also my outlet is hot when switch is on. What is hanging me up is that before I took the old switch out, the light and fan worked on one switch, as if the fixture itself has the fan and light tied into one wire, but if that is the case why isn't it working now on the new switch?? I haven't ever had a problem like this and I'm feeling dumb, it seems to me that this should be very simple...

k_buz

I don't think you do. You said all three were independently switched before you started replacing the device. If you have 4 wire at the switch, and the heater/light/fan were all switched separate, the only way this could work is if you had a hot and 3 switch legs...no neutral. If you don't have a neutral, you cannot make the outlet (on the switch) work.

You would need to meter which wire had 120V on to get started.