What gauge wire do i need. The two switches appear to be connected by a 3 wire plus ground cable.
How To Ground A New Switch To An Old Box Electrical Diy
How to ground a switch. If you use the chassis ground screw you typically connect it to a grounding bus bar mounted on the wall which is then connected to an earth ground. Cut away a little bit of drywall under the box to provide clearance for the clip. Plug in a device switch it on press the test button on the receptacle shutting off the device and then the reset button turning it back on to confirm its correct operation. If you dont have a bus bar in your setup you might be able to cheat by wiring it up to the grounding prong or center screw of an electrical outlet. When nothing is hooked up there is power in the 2 wire plus ground cable on the upstairs switch. There is only the single 3 wire plus ground in the downstairs switch box and only two 2 wire plus ground cables at the fixture.
Dont rely on metal sheathing or an exposed ground wire. Is it enough to buy some wire and connect them to the nearest outlets ground wire. If your electrical cables have metal sheathing that runs all the way to the panel the sheathing can serve as a ground path. Length of bare copper wire onto the metal box with a screwdriver. The router and switch both come with grounding screws so i figured id ground them. Drive a ground screw into the back of the box and then attach the ground wire to that you can get a fine pitch self tapping ground screw garvin gsst or equivalent part and drive it into the back of the box even if there is no tapped hole there then simply attach your ground wire to the screw.
Many switches do not even have a ground screw. Press a grounding clip and 6 in. Couple of years ago i had to ground and outdoor antenna and that called for 10awg but that seems like massive overkill. If you have provided a ground to the receptacle you may also use your external tester with a gfci test button to test the gfci function. Recent codes call for switches to be grounded. The steps are basically the same for how to install a switch.
Replace an older switch with a newer one that has a ground screw and connect it to a ground wire. Alternatively you might consider connecting the ground terminal to a water pipe by means of an exposed ground wire. How to ground in switches most older switches are not grounded.
Gallery of How To Ground A Switch
