Question about wiring and voltage with switches and lights

rswurth · 05-26-2010, 09:20 AM

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Originally Posted by sparks1up

Did you not say the 2-rooms are side by side and share the SAME circuit and the bedroom lights and receptacles work but laundry room does not...correct?

Yes, this is correct

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Does the feed to the laundry room come into the light or fan first or into the switch first?

I don't know how to tell which feed would be first. The light is closest to the switches[/quote]

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If it comes to the light or fan first I would check the connections in the bedroom light outlet.

The bedroom outlets and lights work fine. Should there be something I need to look at in the outlet or switch panel?

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If it comes to the switch first I would check in the switch in the bedroom.

But either way the bedroom is on the same circuit and you probably have 4-receptacles, a light switch and a light outlet and from one of those the laundry is probably fed so if you have to, check the connections in all those outlets.

I will pull out the panels and check the wiring. Should I have any neutral/white wire in the bedroom outlets or switch panels?

rburke65 · 05-26-2010, 09:53 AM

You should have 'whites/neutrals' in the outlet boxes.....it's the only way you could possible have 110 volts at the receptical! And you might have 'whites/neutrals' in the switch boxes.....is this what you are refering to as a "switch panel"?? In the Electrical trade a "panel" is box with breakers or fuses in it.....not being picky here, just looking for clarity. Yes, remove the recepticals and switches and look for a broken or loose wire....either a "hot" or a "neutral". Somewhere you have lost one side or the other...either the hot or the neutral... As we can't see what you are working with, do the wires for your recepticals and/or your switches terminate UNDER the screws????? OR....do the wires terminate into a hole in the back of the recepticals or switches, like a PUSH-INs??? I have seen lots of cases where the push-ins become loose, wear or lose the spring tension and the 110 volt circuit is lost. We would go trouble shoot these by making sure the light switches were switched "on" and then go around to the near-by receptical and wall switches and pound the wall areas there by vibrating the loose connection and MAYBE the light would flicker and find the loose connection this way. This is not easy for the novice.....hell, it isn't easy for some pros! So, if you countinue to try, and keep us posted, I/we will keep trying to help you. This IS the learning curve or school of hard knocks. Hang in there buddy.

rswurth · 06-21-2010, 12:12 AM

It turns out that the neutral feed back from the laundry room to the bedroom next door was not connected completely. I had an outlet in the next room where the top one had a loose neutral connected with the spring mechanism. I removed it and attached both with the screws and the laundry room is now fixed.

Thank you again to everyone for your help!