It could be there is or once was a three way switch in play. When you see a red wire in a light switch box it can mean two things.
How To Replace A Light Switch With A Switch Outlet Combo
Light switch two black wires one red. This is an older house circa 1967 and the wiring appears to be all over the place. My apologies if this has been tackled before but im trying to replace an old light switch in my bathroom and the old one only had two black wires connected to it. By continuing to use this site you consent to the use of cookies on your device as described in our cookie policy unless you have disabled them. My old light switch in my bathroom only has two black wires connected to it. Place the prong of the multimeters red wire on the bare metal on the end of one of the black wires. Dont worry about having two reds and a black this is quite normal.
Yep just transfer the wires across to the new switch connecting them to the same terminals as they are now. There appear to be two white assume neutral wires screwed together with a wire nut and a ground wire tucked away inside the junction box. Youll have two cables in the switch box a live one with a black and white wire and the one going to the outlet which has a red black and white wire. 12 awg for 20 amp circuits and 14 awg for 10 and 15 amp circuits. I have a light switch with two black wires one red and a ground answered by a verified electrician we use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. Or it could be the red wire is the wire going to the fixture and the black wires are the live wires.
Dont get confused about using the red wire from the multimeter to test a hot black wire. Red and black form the same cable will connect ot he brass screws then the red and black from the other cable will connect ot he black screws. Rf lighting 21 nov 2010. The positive wire on a multimeter is red and the black wire is negative. You will have to get a 4 way switch for that position not a 3 way switch. There are two black wires attached to one brass screw and a red wire attached to the other brass screw.
They should both be of the same wire gauge. 4 way switches have 4 screws 2 will be black and 2 will be brass. Well cover the easier scenario first.