[supreeth]

How do I wire 3 lights off 1 switch?

[jamesdavino]

First of all you need a 120 volt feed into the switchbox, then you need to run a wire ( usually a 14 gauge wire ) to the 1st box ( #1 lite ) then put another wire from that box to the next box ( lite # 2 ) then another wire from that box to # 3 box, every lite must have a junction box ( get the plastic ones ) strip the wire sheathing inside the J-box leaving only about a 1/2" of sheathing or insulation showing iside the box. from the switchbox you should have 2 wires coming into it.1 is the feed (hot) the other is the switchleg. cut both wires (6 in all ) the same length after stripping the insulation off. You want about 8-10" of wire to extend from the box so you can work easily. Enough to make working on it comfortable.twist the bare copper wires together and make about 4-6 twists and cut off only one of the grounds where the twist ends.You now need a green wire nut,it'll have a small hole in the top.put the wire through the wire nut and screw it till it bottoms out, leave yourself enough wire to put around the switchs' green lug. Next, you take the white wires and cut to same length stripping off approx.1/2" of insulation at the end of the wires. Twist these together and install a non-green wire nut on the end and push neatly into box. Next, you take the black wire that goes to the lite fixture and strip about 1/2" of insulation from the end, That'll go to the top portion of the switch ( looking at the switch,the 2 brass colored lugs will be on the right side) bend the end so it'll go around the lug and tighten down securely and do the same thing with the remaining blk. Wire to the lower brass colored lug or screw. In your ceiling J-boxes you do the same with the wires but a green wire nut is not required, any other will do. Twist the greens together without cutting one off,twist your whites together, your blacks together and before you put wire nuts on,you install the fixtures and put the same colored wires from the fix. To the ones in the box making sure you have a good bite when you combine the thin stranded wires from the fix. With the wires in the box when attaching the wire nuts. Twist the ends of the stranded wire before twisting around the existing wires. After securing all wires in wire nuts, gently pull on the thin fixture wires,one at a time and make sure you can't pull them out of the wire nut. If you can, do it again... It's not a big job, but loose wires cause most house fires. Second only to improper extension cord use and candles... And I must add that I'm very leery about people attempting electrical work on their own without some kind of experience. They usually cause more problems then it's worth. Get a professional...

[donf]

Greetings and welcome.

To begin with, you start your odessey at your city, county, state electrical Permits office. You need to find out if a permit is required and if you would be allowed to to the work.

My area of the U.S.A. allows homeowners to do their own work on there homes only. A homeowner or business owner would not be allowed to work on a commercial iinstalation.

When you go to the LAHJ bring a wiring plan (use colored pencils to show the wiring).

You need to formulate your plan based on the edition of the NEC code that is in effect in your area.

If you are using the 2011 edition, you are now required to provide a Neutral (White) connection point at the switch outlet.

The 2008 edition and below do not have this requirement.

You bring power either directly to the switch outlet or to the light outlet.

If you bring power to the light outlet, and you want to install a wall switch, then you will need to create a switch loop. This is where you need to know your code level.

You connect your feed to the switch feeder and return the circuit with either a black or a red.

You cannot use the White conductor as the return from the switch. You must use either Black or Red if you use a 14/3 cablr.

At the first light, you connect the black from the switch to the black from the light and the black from the next light in the series. This is called "pigtailing".

You connect the white from the first and second lights togrether.

At the third light, black goes to black and white goes to white. .

Make sure you have connected all grounds together at each outlet.