What if I am connecting a light to a combo outlet/switch fixture?

From light is red, white, and black wires.

From breaker box is black and white wires

From the combo fixture are two black wires, two silver screws, and two brass screws

I would love to make it so the outlet works all of the time and the switch controls the light

I would love to make it so the outlet works all of the time and the switch controls the light
Well, you can certainly do that.

The outlet should have some kind of wiring instructions or a diagram. If you don't understand the instructions post them here or at least post the make and model of the outlet. No one can tell you specifically what to do without the instructions unless they happen to be personally familiar with that exact switch/outlet device. It can probably be wired in more than one way, depending on how you want to use it.
Please explain why there is a black red and white wire going to the light fixture. Is this wiring already there? What was the fixture you are replacing.

Is there a brass strip connecting the screws on each side of the outlet?

The make/model of the outlet is a leviton x7299-w

The wiring (black/red/white) coming down into the switch receptacle was already there from the existing light.

The fixture I am replacing was just a light switch - I am trying to install the leviton x7299-w so we have an outlet in the bathroom since there was no existing outlet.

Are the screws on each side of the outlet connected with a brass strip?

They are not connected

Instructions indicate that they are internally connected.

Put a wire nut on the red wire, both in the switch box and in the ceiling box. At the ceiling connect the black and white wire to the light fixture. You will not be using the red wire.

Instruction indicate that there is a piece of tape (probably yellow) covering the bottom screws. Let me know if this is correct.

Connect the black of the incoming power to the top brass screw. Connect the white of the incoming power to the top silver screw. Connect the white of the cable going to the light fixture to the bottom silver screw.
Connect one of the black wires (from the outlet) to the bottom brass screw. Doesn't matter which one.

Connect the black of the cable going to the light fixture to the other black wire from the outlet.

There is yellow tape I planned to remove it from what I gathered going to test now THANKS!

The two uncovered screws are for the incoming power. The power goes to the outlet and is GFI protected. Unprotected power goes to the covered screws. The two covered screw are for unprotected power to an fixture down stream. In your case that will be the light.
The black wires are for the switch. By connecting one black wire to the unprotected (hot) screw you will send power to the switch. Power from the switch will come out the other black wire and go to the light. The neutrals (white) are common.

No luck not sure what I did wrong I will get back it again tomorrow when I hope to finish up the bathroom project.

I was getting power to the outlet cause the green light was on - but the switch to the light would not work - maybe I swapped the black and white - I that maybe your term top was different than mine.

I always saw plugs installed with the ground plug on the bottom - so the top for this model would be the screw closest to the light switch.

Ahhhh problem solving - always fun.

Sad part is I am trying to get the light electrical done before I caulk and remove the painters tape, etc... so no shower for me tomorrow :(

Thanks again I look forward to wrapping this up with you tomorrow.

Change word "top" to "uncovered" and "bottom" to "covered".

Copied from instructions.

Connect the switch leads to the switch controlled LOAD
(not GFCI protected, shown in diagram):

• One black switch lead connects to the LINE side black wire.

• The other black lead connects to the HOT side of the LOAD.

• The LOAD must be properly connected to NEUTRAL and grounded.



Did you check the connections in the ceiling fixture. If you have a meter do a voltage check between the covered brass and silver screws. Should read 120 volts. Do a continuity check(no power on outlet) between the two silver screws.

We are also assuming that the 2-wire cable is the power coming in. That may not be correct. The 2-wire cable may be taking power on to another fixture. In that case the power would be coming in on the white and either the black or the red of the 3-wire cable. The other wire of the 3-wire cable, either red of black, would be returning power to the light through the switch.

Do you know for sure that the 2-wire cable is the power in cable?

The two wire cable is coming into the bottom of the box and the three wire cable is coming in from the top which based on location of the light fixture would seem to make sense. Also when I go into where the wires are behind the vanity under the fixture the red wire is there. Meaning it's running from the box to the fixture right? With the switch being the junction...

Now I can't sleep because I need to solve this puzzle.

The two wire cable is coming into the bottom of the box and the three wire cable is coming in from the top which based on location of the light fixture would seem to make sense. Also when I go into where the wires are behind the vanity under the fixture the red wire is there. Meaning it's running from the box to the fixture right? With the switch being the junction...

Now I can't sleep because I need to solve this puzzle.


Change word "top" to "uncovered" and "bottom" to "covered".

Copied from instructions.


Did you check the connections in the ceiling fixture. If you have a meter do a voltage check between the covered brass and silver screws. Should read 120 volts. Do a continuity check(no power on outlet) between the two silver screws.

We are also assuming that the 2-wire cable is the power coming in. That may not be correct. The 2-wire cable may be taking power on to another fixture. In that case the power would be coming in on the white and either the black or the red of the 3-wire cable. The other wire of the 3-wire cable, either red of black, would be returning power to the light thru the switch.

Do you know for sure that the 2-wire cable is the power in cable?

Ok so I have discovered that when it come to electricians what is logical to me is not to them.

What we have now is the power supply line is across the room with a transfer line going through the wall to the switch.

I'll start over:

Switch remains the same:
1 line with black and white coming in - not sure what this is - black read only 4 volts
1 line with black/white/red coming in - this is the transfer from the area where the light is.

Light:
The other end of the transfer with the red/black/white
The wires directly to the light black/green/white
The power line black/white/red

I thought this was supposed to be fun - can I post another picture?

Diagram

OK, clearly you don't speak Sparky Speak.
Let's start over.

The question is where is the power coming from.

Disconnect and separate all the wires in the switch box.
With the breaker on, do a voltage check between the black and white wires in the 2-wire cable. Do a voltage check between the black and white wire in the 3-wire cable. Do a voltage check between the red and white wires in the 3-wire cable.

Post back with results.

Ok so things have gotten more complicated.

Where the light fixture is is where the power is coming in on a line with red reading 24 volts black reading 120 and white with no read.

There is also another line with red black white dead that runs into the switch box.

Along with this is the black and white wires from the light fixture.

All of these wires mentioned above are in the hole where the medicine cabinet goes.

In the switch like I said before is the dead black red and white in one line also are a black and white in a line the white dead black reading 4 volts... Weird.

Another weird note there is one room in my house along with one hallway fixture that don't have power since I unhooked the original switch.

Am I screwed?

What we have here is a "failure to communicate" (Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke)

I am having great difficulty understanding what you are telling me.

First, to do a voltage check, plug the meter leads in the common and the V holes. Next turn the meter dial to the squiggly line in "V" or voltage section. The squiggly line is for AC, the solid line with the dotted line underneath is for DC. Check your meter and its set up by inserting the leads into outlet you know works. You should get a reading of approximately 120 volts.

To actually do the voltage check, you touch one meter lead to the white wire and one to the black or the red wire.

Please learn to use the jargon.

A box is the plastic or metal box where the wiring connections are made. In this case we have a switch or outlet box and a ceiling box. The ceiling box is the actual box where the connections are made and the fixture or light is attached. The fixture or light is the actual light it self.

A wire is a single wire. A cable is two or more wires in an outer covering. You can have 2-wire cable with a black and white wire, and 3-wire cable with black, white and red wires. We don't count the ground wire because the actual correct terminology is 2 or 3 "conductors" and the ground is not a conductor. It is difficult to follow your post when you use the term wire to mean a single wire at one time and to mean a cable at another.

Please edit your post. Enter your post, wait 5 minutes and then read what you actually key in. You have to wait a little while to make yourself actually read what is there, and not what you think is there. In your last post you used the term "dead" several times. I can't tell whether these were just typos and you meant to type "leads" or you mean a dead or unused wire or cable.

Did you install the light fixture that you currently have and if so did it work before you started with the switch replacement?


Where the light fixture is is where the power is coming in on a line with red reading 24 volts black reading 120 and white with no read.

There is also another line with red black white dead that runs into the switch box.

I am reading that to mean that there is a 2-wire cable and a 3-wire cable in the ceiling box.

Along with this is the black and white wires from the light fixture.
I read that to mean the black and white wire from the actual light fixture.

To summarize my understanding, in the ceiling box you have a 2-wire cable, a 3-wire cable and the black and white wires for the light fixture. If that is correct you should have the white wires from each cable and the white from the light fixture all connected together. The black of the 2-wire cable may be connected to the black of the 3-wire cable or it may be connected to the red of the 3-wire cable. The black of the light fixture will be connected other wire (red or black) of the 3-wire .


All of these wires mentioned above are in the hole where the medicine cabinet goes.
I am reading that to mean that theses cable simply pass through the opening in the wall made for flush mounted medicine cabinet.


In the switch like I said before is the dead black red and white in one line also are a black and white in a line the white dead black reading 4 volts... Weird.
To me that means that in the switch box you have a 2-wire cable and a 3-wire cable.


Another weird note there is one room in my house along with one hallway fixture that don't have power since I unhooked the original switch.

Not strange at all, it is indeed what I would expect. Some where in the process of replacing the switch or replacing the light fixture you have disconnected the wiring to those fixtures. May seem weird to you but perfectly logical to me.

So do the voltage checks again. Confirm the wiring in the ceiling box .

Footnote:
I spent 45 minutes keying all this in. I then spent another 15 minutes editing for typos and also editing to try to insure that I said what I thought I said. It is simply what you have to do with written communications. Even so, I am probably not completely clear in what I am trying convey.

Harold,

To help a complete stranger I cannot thank you enough let me respond properly so we can get this fixed.

All of my voltage checks remain accurate.
The ceiling box (where all of the wires are coming together behind the flush mounted medicine cabinet) has the following cables:

Cable with the following wires red (24 volt read), white (0 volt read), black (120 volt read).
Cable with the following wires black (0 volt) white (0 volt) this is coming from the light fixture
Cable with the following wires red (0 volt), white (0 volt), black (0 volt). This is running from behind the medicine cabinet to the box where the light switch is.
Ground wire connected to the light and going into the wall - it does not come out in the outlet box.

The box where the combo gfci (with light switch and outlet) outlet goes has the following:
Cable with white wire (0 volts) black wire (4 volts)
Cable with white, red, black all reading zero volts - appears to be the connecting wire from behind the medicine cabinet.

Prior to disconnecting the light worked on a regular on/off switch wired to the box where the outlet went.

My buddy and I wired this new light fixture when I moved in 2 years ago. Formerly there were two vertical lights on each side of the medicine cabinet. It worked for the past two years. Also I stated before there is one room not working which is directly next to the bathroom, the hallway light outside of the bathroom is not working, and neither is one light that is directly below the room in the garage. So it does make sense that these are all together – if they were sporadically spread around the house I would be nervous.

I am also confused about the two switch leads (black wires coming off the outlet) and where they connect to. In browsing the internet it has me using these - your description said nothing about these.

Here is an additional brief synopsis:

Behind medicine cabinet:
Cable with red – 24 volts, black 120 volts, white 0 volts (from breaker)
Cable with black white and ground (light fixture)
Cable with red – 0 volts, white – 0 volts, black – 0 volts (connection to switch box)
Ground Wire that runs in with the first cable – to light switch and into the wall with the connecting cable

Light Switch Box:
Cable with red – 0 volts, white – 0 volts, black – 0 volts (connection to rear of medicine cabinet)
Cable with black – 4 volts, white – 0 volts

Combo GFCI switch
2 brass screws
2 silver screws
2 black wire switch leads

I hope this is clear enough – thanks a million!

Based on what you said before I come to this so far...

All 3 white wires behind the medicine cabinet (connecting white, light fixture white, and white from the line with the 120 volt black) should be connected together.

The 120 v black wire should be connected to the black wire that is in the line that runs to the light switch.

Then connect the black from the light to the red wire on the same line that has the 120 volt black (connected to the black line going to the switch box).

After this is all done I am left with the switch box.

Where do the black and white wires in from the one line go? Brass or silver switch or gfci?

Where do the black, red, white from the line that runs to the medicine cabinet area go? Brass or silver switch or gfci

Where do I connect the two switch leads coming off the actual switch itself?

Cable with red – 24 volts, black 120 volts, white 0 volts (from breaker)

If that cable is truly coming from the breaker, there should be two breakers. One for the black wire and one for the red wire.

You're good - lights in the hallway are working.

OK, put a wire nut on the red wire in the power source cable in the box behind the medicine cabinet.

At the switch box, connect one of the black wires from the combo switch/outlet to the black wire of the 3-wire cable with a wire nut and add a pig tail (a short piece of black wire). Connect the other black wire from the switch/outlet to the red wire of the 3-wire cable. Connect the white of the 3-wire cable to the silver (top) uncovered screw of the switch/outlet. Connect the white of the 2-wire cable to the silver (bottom) covered screw. Connect the black pig tail to the brass (top) uncovered screw. Connect the black of the 2-wire cable to the brass (bottom) covered screw.

The red from the power source is connected directly to the fixture ad you said before if I cap the red from the power source then won't the fixture be getting no power or did you forget to tell me to attach the red from the loop back to the black from the fixture?

did you forget to tell me to attach the red from the loop back to the black from the fixture?
Yes, possibly. The red of the switch loop should be connected to the black going to the light fixture.

Winner!!

You are the best Harold even tough I will never get to formally thank you I truly cannot thank you enough!

You kindness and attentiveness to a complete stranger saved me from my angry wife and probably injuring myself.

Well wishes to you and if you are ever in Rochester NY please let me know I owe you a cold one!

[email protected]

Should I worry about ground in the outlet?

Does the 3-wire power source cable have a ground wire in it.

Not in it - its on the outside of it - comes in the wall - connects to the light - then goes into the wall with the loop connection and doesn't come into the light switch box...

Then connect all ground wires together behind the medicine cabinet. Connect any ground wires in the switch/outlet box together and to the outlet. If there is not ground wires in the switch/outlet box nothing you can do to ground. The GFI provides more protection than ground.

Congratulations and good luck.

Harold - possible for you to tell me how on this existing setup we would setup a fan to remove steam during showers.

My dad wants to come up and do it 2 weeks from now since we just completely refinished the bathroom by painting all of the walls and refinishing the tile...