Hi all, I am new here and could use some help.

I had a carpenter wall in my shop that was already wired. The desired outcome for the electrical was to have three 110 outlets in the ceiling to plug my shop lights into. What I had originally were two switches, one by each door that controlled two light fixtures in the ceiling.

Prior to the carpenter, I had already converted the light fixture on the end of the run to a receptacle. I asked him to turn the other light fixture into a receptacle on the same circuit and add a third receptacle for the third light.He removed the light fixture and left the wires (two hot, two neutral, two ground) hanging from the box for the receptacle. He put in a new third box for a new third receptacle and laid a piece of 14/2 across the span from box to box.

The issue is that no matter how I connect the wires, I cannot get the switch to work. The existing light comes on when I turn on the breaker and the switch doesn't work. Can someone please give me some advise here (other than hire an electrician) This shouldn't be as hard as it is turning out to be.

Roger Wilkerson

Let's see if I understand correctly.

You had two ceiling light fixtures in your shop. You had a set of 3-way switches, one at each door. You replaced one of those light fixtures (the last in the run) with a receptacle. You then had the carpenter install a third box and run a cable from the third box to the box where you had installed the receptacle.

Is that correct?

The carpenter just cut in the boxes and laid a piece of 14/2 from box to box. Not connected. The receptacle that I installed is at the end, the middle receptacle will be the other existing wiring then I need to jump off that for the third one

Welcome Newbie!

First, light switches only interrupt the hot or power source. They are not a complete circuit path because they do not normally have a connection back to neutral. It's only recently that the electrical code want a neutral connection point at a switch outlet. What that means is that you cannot connect a receptacle to the black and white wires on a switch.

Also, you really do not want your light system in a shop on the same circuit that feeds power tolls. You might find yourself in darkened shop with a saw blade spinning and no way to see what you are doing!

Secondly, using a 45amp circuit for power tools might cause an overload and trip the breaker during the start up of some power tool. It would be wiser to consider using a 20 amp circuit for receptacles that will be supplying power tools.

If you have no experience with electrical work, I strongly suggest that you get bids from several licensed electricians for this work. It will be necessary to pull an entirely new circuit from the panel board to the receptacles.

The wall outlets are already on a completely different circuit than the lights if that makes a difference. I am curious though. Why does the switch work when I tie the existing black to black and white to white?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roger Wilkerson

The wall outlets are already on a completely different circuit than the lights if that makes a difference. I am curious though. Why does the switch work when I tie the existing black to black and white to white?

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It really depends on the feed to the switch.

What you are telling us is not logical.
You at first said that you had two light fixtures that were controlled by a set of 3-way switches. You said that you replace one of the fixtures with a receptacle. Implied was after doing that the light and receptacle were controlled by the switches.

The carpenter nailed up a third box and ran a cable from the new box to the box where you had installed the receptacle. Did not make any connections, just ran the cable. Now the switches don't control the light and receptacle.
That is just not logical.

Start at the beginning.
Describe the wires in the box when you replaced the light fixture with the receptacle. Did the switches work after you did that?
Does the cable from the electrical panel go to a switch or does it go to one of the light fixtures?