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  • red wire problem

    Electrical newbie here, please be patient as I try to explain my situation adequately.

    I added recessed lights and a dimmer switch. Behind the old switch was an incoming power supply (two wire) and outgoing to a switch with three wire (black, white, red and ground). The red controlled one of the switches for a lamp.

    The only way I could get the power to work in the room was to pigtail the red with the black wires at the switch. But now the power to the outlet in the room dims when I use the dimmer on the switch. Make sense????

    What am I doing wrong? I would like to permanently disable the outlet being controlled by the switch. Is there a way to disable the red wire usage? Can I remove the red from the outlet and the switch and cap them both?

    Thanks.

  • #2
    You would have to post a diagram of your wiring. But it is clear you have sent the output of the dimmer to the receptacle. That may have been the red wire.

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    • #3
      Are all the receptacles split wired or just a couple? Are they controlled by a switch at two locations? This would qualify the use of three wire. Split wired means one half is hot and the other half switched.
      The recptacles that are split wired have the tab broken off where the brass terminals are. Black goes to one side, red to the other and they share a common neutral.
      Back at the switch the odd colored screw is (hot) common the other two screws are the travelers - they match up with the other switch. at the other switch the odd screw connects to the load in this case the red wire that goes to the upper half of the receptacles or bottom depending on who wired it.

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