Why neutral wire connected to load wire?












1














I opened switch box in the basement that has two switches: one for basement and other 3way switch for stairs. I wonder why white wire thet usually neutral connected to black wire that goes to another connection woth load wire.










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  • 1




    It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable. If a wire-nutted group has even one non-white wire, the non-white wire is a hot, which means so are the white wires.
    – Harper
    3 hours ago


















1














I opened switch box in the basement that has two switches: one for basement and other 3way switch for stairs. I wonder why white wire thet usually neutral connected to black wire that goes to another connection woth load wire.










share|improve this question







New contributor




Jenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1




    It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable. If a wire-nutted group has even one non-white wire, the non-white wire is a hot, which means so are the white wires.
    – Harper
    3 hours ago
















1












1








1







I opened switch box in the basement that has two switches: one for basement and other 3way switch for stairs. I wonder why white wire thet usually neutral connected to black wire that goes to another connection woth load wire.










share|improve this question







New contributor




Jenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











I opened switch box in the basement that has two switches: one for basement and other 3way switch for stairs. I wonder why white wire thet usually neutral connected to black wire that goes to another connection woth load wire.







electrical wiring switch wire






share|improve this question







New contributor




Jenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question







New contributor




Jenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question






New contributor




Jenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









asked 3 hours ago









Jenny

61




61




New contributor




Jenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Jenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Jenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 1




    It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable. If a wire-nutted group has even one non-white wire, the non-white wire is a hot, which means so are the white wires.
    – Harper
    3 hours ago
















  • 1




    It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable. If a wire-nutted group has even one non-white wire, the non-white wire is a hot, which means so are the white wires.
    – Harper
    3 hours ago










1




1




It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable. If a wire-nutted group has even one non-white wire, the non-white wire is a hot, which means so are the white wires.
– Harper
3 hours ago






It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable. If a wire-nutted group has even one non-white wire, the non-white wire is a hot, which means so are the white wires.
– Harper
3 hours ago












2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















3














It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable.



So think about the meaning of this. If you see a bundle wire-nutted together, and even one wire is non-white, what does it mean about the whites in that bundle? It means they cannot possibly be neutral. They are hot.



"Hot" includes always-hot, switched-hot and 3-way travelers.



Here is how a 3-way switch works, electrically. The physical positions may change, and the colors will alway change, but electrically if you unwrap it, it looks like this everytime.



enter image description here



... That wasn't so bad, was it? I love this drawing because it makes sense. Current travels in loops, and you can see very quickly what's really going on. Eother the switches line up, or they don't.



Of course, when you turn your gaze to the morass in that electrical box, not so pretty.



It can be prettier. They make colored electrical tape, a 5-pack for $4. And I recommend re-marking wires in the box, particularly travelers, using that tape. First rule of tape marking: mark both ends of the wire the same. It really makes life easier, and it's one of the easiest things a less experienced person can do to make comprehension easier and reduce mistakes. I'm a stickler for it just because I don't have time to puzzle out wire functions everytime I open a box.



It is now the law that you must mark white wires black or a color when you make them a hot.



enter image description here



So identify both travelers on both 3-way switches and mark them with yellow tape. On a 3-way switch, the travelers are on the brass screws.. That is the key to wiring a 3-way switch. Every switch jumbles around the positions, but the screw colors are true.






share|improve this answer





















  • This white goes to another black from 2-way switch, Not 3-way. white + black in box connected together and another black from there goes to regular two way switch. On 3-way switch everything is fine. My concern is about 2-way switch beside it. Why does it have white at all?
    – Jenny
    57 mins ago












  • If you see on second photo. There are green, two black and one white wires on 2-way switch. Green goes to the box, white to bunch of white wires, one black goes to the black from box, but another black goes to orange cup that attached with black wire to another orange cup - in it I see one additional black and one white wires together. This confused me.
    – Jenny
    51 mins ago










  • Thanks. That is right for the 3-way switch. But I also have 2-way switch there.
    – Jenny
    49 mins ago



















0














That junction of two blacks and the white is where power comes into the box at



What we see in your photos at that junction is a black wire coming in from a cable, that feeds two wires. One of them is a black pigtail to the single pole switch on the left, while the other is the white wire you are asking about. Following this white wire takes us to a different cable, and if you look at the black and red wires from that cable, where do they go? To the brass screws on your 3 way switch! Therefore, that white wire is not a neutral at all, but the always-hot going out to the other 3-way switch in that complex, which has been wired as a switch loop from this box. (The other black wire off the 3-way is the switched-hot that goes into the middle cable and off to the fixture from there, while the center and left whites in the first photo are neutrals, connected to each other and the smart-switch.)



I would wrap that white wire from the far-right cable with black electrical tape (with the breaker off, of course!) to avoid future confusion.






share|improve this answer





















  • thanks for explanation. appreciate your help.
    – Jenny
    30 mins ago










  • @Jenny -- we thank people around here by upvoting and/or accepting their answers :)
    – ThreePhaseEel
    26 mins ago











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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

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active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









3














It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable.



So think about the meaning of this. If you see a bundle wire-nutted together, and even one wire is non-white, what does it mean about the whites in that bundle? It means they cannot possibly be neutral. They are hot.



"Hot" includes always-hot, switched-hot and 3-way travelers.



Here is how a 3-way switch works, electrically. The physical positions may change, and the colors will alway change, but electrically if you unwrap it, it looks like this everytime.



enter image description here



... That wasn't so bad, was it? I love this drawing because it makes sense. Current travels in loops, and you can see very quickly what's really going on. Eother the switches line up, or they don't.



Of course, when you turn your gaze to the morass in that electrical box, not so pretty.



It can be prettier. They make colored electrical tape, a 5-pack for $4. And I recommend re-marking wires in the box, particularly travelers, using that tape. First rule of tape marking: mark both ends of the wire the same. It really makes life easier, and it's one of the easiest things a less experienced person can do to make comprehension easier and reduce mistakes. I'm a stickler for it just because I don't have time to puzzle out wire functions everytime I open a box.



It is now the law that you must mark white wires black or a color when you make them a hot.



enter image description here



So identify both travelers on both 3-way switches and mark them with yellow tape. On a 3-way switch, the travelers are on the brass screws.. That is the key to wiring a 3-way switch. Every switch jumbles around the positions, but the screw colors are true.






share|improve this answer





















  • This white goes to another black from 2-way switch, Not 3-way. white + black in box connected together and another black from there goes to regular two way switch. On 3-way switch everything is fine. My concern is about 2-way switch beside it. Why does it have white at all?
    – Jenny
    57 mins ago












  • If you see on second photo. There are green, two black and one white wires on 2-way switch. Green goes to the box, white to bunch of white wires, one black goes to the black from box, but another black goes to orange cup that attached with black wire to another orange cup - in it I see one additional black and one white wires together. This confused me.
    – Jenny
    51 mins ago










  • Thanks. That is right for the 3-way switch. But I also have 2-way switch there.
    – Jenny
    49 mins ago
















3














It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable.



So think about the meaning of this. If you see a bundle wire-nutted together, and even one wire is non-white, what does it mean about the whites in that bundle? It means they cannot possibly be neutral. They are hot.



"Hot" includes always-hot, switched-hot and 3-way travelers.



Here is how a 3-way switch works, electrically. The physical positions may change, and the colors will alway change, but electrically if you unwrap it, it looks like this everytime.



enter image description here



... That wasn't so bad, was it? I love this drawing because it makes sense. Current travels in loops, and you can see very quickly what's really going on. Eother the switches line up, or they don't.



Of course, when you turn your gaze to the morass in that electrical box, not so pretty.



It can be prettier. They make colored electrical tape, a 5-pack for $4. And I recommend re-marking wires in the box, particularly travelers, using that tape. First rule of tape marking: mark both ends of the wire the same. It really makes life easier, and it's one of the easiest things a less experienced person can do to make comprehension easier and reduce mistakes. I'm a stickler for it just because I don't have time to puzzle out wire functions everytime I open a box.



It is now the law that you must mark white wires black or a color when you make them a hot.



enter image description here



So identify both travelers on both 3-way switches and mark them with yellow tape. On a 3-way switch, the travelers are on the brass screws.. That is the key to wiring a 3-way switch. Every switch jumbles around the positions, but the screw colors are true.






share|improve this answer





















  • This white goes to another black from 2-way switch, Not 3-way. white + black in box connected together and another black from there goes to regular two way switch. On 3-way switch everything is fine. My concern is about 2-way switch beside it. Why does it have white at all?
    – Jenny
    57 mins ago












  • If you see on second photo. There are green, two black and one white wires on 2-way switch. Green goes to the box, white to bunch of white wires, one black goes to the black from box, but another black goes to orange cup that attached with black wire to another orange cup - in it I see one additional black and one white wires together. This confused me.
    – Jenny
    51 mins ago










  • Thanks. That is right for the 3-way switch. But I also have 2-way switch there.
    – Jenny
    49 mins ago














3












3








3






It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable.



So think about the meaning of this. If you see a bundle wire-nutted together, and even one wire is non-white, what does it mean about the whites in that bundle? It means they cannot possibly be neutral. They are hot.



"Hot" includes always-hot, switched-hot and 3-way travelers.



Here is how a 3-way switch works, electrically. The physical positions may change, and the colors will alway change, but electrically if you unwrap it, it looks like this everytime.



enter image description here



... That wasn't so bad, was it? I love this drawing because it makes sense. Current travels in loops, and you can see very quickly what's really going on. Eother the switches line up, or they don't.



Of course, when you turn your gaze to the morass in that electrical box, not so pretty.



It can be prettier. They make colored electrical tape, a 5-pack for $4. And I recommend re-marking wires in the box, particularly travelers, using that tape. First rule of tape marking: mark both ends of the wire the same. It really makes life easier, and it's one of the easiest things a less experienced person can do to make comprehension easier and reduce mistakes. I'm a stickler for it just because I don't have time to puzzle out wire functions everytime I open a box.



It is now the law that you must mark white wires black or a color when you make them a hot.



enter image description here



So identify both travelers on both 3-way switches and mark them with yellow tape. On a 3-way switch, the travelers are on the brass screws.. That is the key to wiring a 3-way switch. Every switch jumbles around the positions, but the screw colors are true.






share|improve this answer












It's not neutral. Neutral wires must be white, but not the other way round. A white wire can be hot if it's in cable.



So think about the meaning of this. If you see a bundle wire-nutted together, and even one wire is non-white, what does it mean about the whites in that bundle? It means they cannot possibly be neutral. They are hot.



"Hot" includes always-hot, switched-hot and 3-way travelers.



Here is how a 3-way switch works, electrically. The physical positions may change, and the colors will alway change, but electrically if you unwrap it, it looks like this everytime.



enter image description here



... That wasn't so bad, was it? I love this drawing because it makes sense. Current travels in loops, and you can see very quickly what's really going on. Eother the switches line up, or they don't.



Of course, when you turn your gaze to the morass in that electrical box, not so pretty.



It can be prettier. They make colored electrical tape, a 5-pack for $4. And I recommend re-marking wires in the box, particularly travelers, using that tape. First rule of tape marking: mark both ends of the wire the same. It really makes life easier, and it's one of the easiest things a less experienced person can do to make comprehension easier and reduce mistakes. I'm a stickler for it just because I don't have time to puzzle out wire functions everytime I open a box.



It is now the law that you must mark white wires black or a color when you make them a hot.



enter image description here



So identify both travelers on both 3-way switches and mark them with yellow tape. On a 3-way switch, the travelers are on the brass screws.. That is the key to wiring a 3-way switch. Every switch jumbles around the positions, but the screw colors are true.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 2 hours ago









Harper

65k341133




65k341133












  • This white goes to another black from 2-way switch, Not 3-way. white + black in box connected together and another black from there goes to regular two way switch. On 3-way switch everything is fine. My concern is about 2-way switch beside it. Why does it have white at all?
    – Jenny
    57 mins ago












  • If you see on second photo. There are green, two black and one white wires on 2-way switch. Green goes to the box, white to bunch of white wires, one black goes to the black from box, but another black goes to orange cup that attached with black wire to another orange cup - in it I see one additional black and one white wires together. This confused me.
    – Jenny
    51 mins ago










  • Thanks. That is right for the 3-way switch. But I also have 2-way switch there.
    – Jenny
    49 mins ago


















  • This white goes to another black from 2-way switch, Not 3-way. white + black in box connected together and another black from there goes to regular two way switch. On 3-way switch everything is fine. My concern is about 2-way switch beside it. Why does it have white at all?
    – Jenny
    57 mins ago












  • If you see on second photo. There are green, two black and one white wires on 2-way switch. Green goes to the box, white to bunch of white wires, one black goes to the black from box, but another black goes to orange cup that attached with black wire to another orange cup - in it I see one additional black and one white wires together. This confused me.
    – Jenny
    51 mins ago










  • Thanks. That is right for the 3-way switch. But I also have 2-way switch there.
    – Jenny
    49 mins ago
















This white goes to another black from 2-way switch, Not 3-way. white + black in box connected together and another black from there goes to regular two way switch. On 3-way switch everything is fine. My concern is about 2-way switch beside it. Why does it have white at all?
– Jenny
57 mins ago






This white goes to another black from 2-way switch, Not 3-way. white + black in box connected together and another black from there goes to regular two way switch. On 3-way switch everything is fine. My concern is about 2-way switch beside it. Why does it have white at all?
– Jenny
57 mins ago














If you see on second photo. There are green, two black and one white wires on 2-way switch. Green goes to the box, white to bunch of white wires, one black goes to the black from box, but another black goes to orange cup that attached with black wire to another orange cup - in it I see one additional black and one white wires together. This confused me.
– Jenny
51 mins ago




If you see on second photo. There are green, two black and one white wires on 2-way switch. Green goes to the box, white to bunch of white wires, one black goes to the black from box, but another black goes to orange cup that attached with black wire to another orange cup - in it I see one additional black and one white wires together. This confused me.
– Jenny
51 mins ago












Thanks. That is right for the 3-way switch. But I also have 2-way switch there.
– Jenny
49 mins ago




Thanks. That is right for the 3-way switch. But I also have 2-way switch there.
– Jenny
49 mins ago













0














That junction of two blacks and the white is where power comes into the box at



What we see in your photos at that junction is a black wire coming in from a cable, that feeds two wires. One of them is a black pigtail to the single pole switch on the left, while the other is the white wire you are asking about. Following this white wire takes us to a different cable, and if you look at the black and red wires from that cable, where do they go? To the brass screws on your 3 way switch! Therefore, that white wire is not a neutral at all, but the always-hot going out to the other 3-way switch in that complex, which has been wired as a switch loop from this box. (The other black wire off the 3-way is the switched-hot that goes into the middle cable and off to the fixture from there, while the center and left whites in the first photo are neutrals, connected to each other and the smart-switch.)



I would wrap that white wire from the far-right cable with black electrical tape (with the breaker off, of course!) to avoid future confusion.






share|improve this answer





















  • thanks for explanation. appreciate your help.
    – Jenny
    30 mins ago










  • @Jenny -- we thank people around here by upvoting and/or accepting their answers :)
    – ThreePhaseEel
    26 mins ago
















0














That junction of two blacks and the white is where power comes into the box at



What we see in your photos at that junction is a black wire coming in from a cable, that feeds two wires. One of them is a black pigtail to the single pole switch on the left, while the other is the white wire you are asking about. Following this white wire takes us to a different cable, and if you look at the black and red wires from that cable, where do they go? To the brass screws on your 3 way switch! Therefore, that white wire is not a neutral at all, but the always-hot going out to the other 3-way switch in that complex, which has been wired as a switch loop from this box. (The other black wire off the 3-way is the switched-hot that goes into the middle cable and off to the fixture from there, while the center and left whites in the first photo are neutrals, connected to each other and the smart-switch.)



I would wrap that white wire from the far-right cable with black electrical tape (with the breaker off, of course!) to avoid future confusion.






share|improve this answer





















  • thanks for explanation. appreciate your help.
    – Jenny
    30 mins ago










  • @Jenny -- we thank people around here by upvoting and/or accepting their answers :)
    – ThreePhaseEel
    26 mins ago














0












0








0






That junction of two blacks and the white is where power comes into the box at



What we see in your photos at that junction is a black wire coming in from a cable, that feeds two wires. One of them is a black pigtail to the single pole switch on the left, while the other is the white wire you are asking about. Following this white wire takes us to a different cable, and if you look at the black and red wires from that cable, where do they go? To the brass screws on your 3 way switch! Therefore, that white wire is not a neutral at all, but the always-hot going out to the other 3-way switch in that complex, which has been wired as a switch loop from this box. (The other black wire off the 3-way is the switched-hot that goes into the middle cable and off to the fixture from there, while the center and left whites in the first photo are neutrals, connected to each other and the smart-switch.)



I would wrap that white wire from the far-right cable with black electrical tape (with the breaker off, of course!) to avoid future confusion.






share|improve this answer












That junction of two blacks and the white is where power comes into the box at



What we see in your photos at that junction is a black wire coming in from a cable, that feeds two wires. One of them is a black pigtail to the single pole switch on the left, while the other is the white wire you are asking about. Following this white wire takes us to a different cable, and if you look at the black and red wires from that cable, where do they go? To the brass screws on your 3 way switch! Therefore, that white wire is not a neutral at all, but the always-hot going out to the other 3-way switch in that complex, which has been wired as a switch loop from this box. (The other black wire off the 3-way is the switched-hot that goes into the middle cable and off to the fixture from there, while the center and left whites in the first photo are neutrals, connected to each other and the smart-switch.)



I would wrap that white wire from the far-right cable with black electrical tape (with the breaker off, of course!) to avoid future confusion.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 48 mins ago









ThreePhaseEel

30k104590




30k104590












  • thanks for explanation. appreciate your help.
    – Jenny
    30 mins ago










  • @Jenny -- we thank people around here by upvoting and/or accepting their answers :)
    – ThreePhaseEel
    26 mins ago


















  • thanks for explanation. appreciate your help.
    – Jenny
    30 mins ago










  • @Jenny -- we thank people around here by upvoting and/or accepting their answers :)
    – ThreePhaseEel
    26 mins ago
















thanks for explanation. appreciate your help.
– Jenny
30 mins ago




thanks for explanation. appreciate your help.
– Jenny
30 mins ago












@Jenny -- we thank people around here by upvoting and/or accepting their answers :)
– ThreePhaseEel
26 mins ago




@Jenny -- we thank people around here by upvoting and/or accepting their answers :)
– ThreePhaseEel
26 mins ago










Jenny is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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