Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask
    Axioner's Avatar
    Axioner Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Apr 26, 2014, 04:47 PM
    Neutral wire on Electrical Timer Switch to ground?
    Wired in a timer for a bathroom fan (the type where you can selected 5min/10min etc and it shuts of after that). In the "wall box" was a single wire group, with a White, Red, Black, and Ground (bare). The White was Hot, Red was cold side for fan, Black was cold side for light. The timer switch had a Hot (black), Cold (red), Ground (Green), and Neutral (white). The only way I could get the electronics of the switch to work in conjunction with the light switch was to route the Neutral (white) on the switch into the Ground (green) which was already connected to the box ground screw and bare wire ground from the box. Is this wrong, and can it cause electrical issues? If I ran the Neutral wire to the Black (cold for light) it would work, but then when that was energized by flipping the light switch it would shut off the fan.
    hkstroud's Avatar
    hkstroud Posts: 11,929, Reputation: 899
    Home Improvement & Construction Expert
    		  
    #2

    Apr 26, 2014, 05:42 PM

    The only way I could get the electronics of the switch to work in conjunction with the light switch was to route the Neutral (white) on the switch into the Ground (green) which was already connected to the box ground screw and bare wire ground from the box. Is this wrong, and can it cause electrical issues
    Yes that is wrong and yes that can cause electrical issues.

    What you have is a switch loop. The white is bringing power from the ceiling box. (It should have a piece of black tape on the end of it to designate it as a hot.)
    The black is returning power through the switch to the light. The red is returning power through the switch to the fan. You do not have a neutral at the switch box. The timer motor needs a neutral to run. You are not allowed to use the ground as a neutral.
    Axioner's Avatar
    Axioner Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #3

    Apr 27, 2014, 12:10 AM
    Ok, then ill have to change it. Thanks for the info... back to a basic switch it is.
Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions
 

Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.


Check out some similar questions!

Misuse of ground wire as neutral return wire in old house [ 5 Answers ]

Here a problem where the "obvious" solution scares me, need some advice on how to best proceed. My home (built 1920 with knob and tube type wiring) has been upgraded over the years by prior owners, but in many place still has active current in the old wires, in other places it is spliced into a...

Neutral wire reads voltage to ground when dimmer switch is on [ 2 Answers ]

I had three light fixtures stop working at the same time. #1. Laundry room ceiling fixture #2 Outdoor porch light (outside of laundry room exterior door) #3. Ceiling fan and it's 4 lights ( in living room located next to laundry room) The ceiling fan lights are controlled by a sliding type...

Connecting neutral wire to ground wire in breaker panel [ 3 Answers ]

Can the neutral wire be connected to the ground wire at the neutral bar in the breaker panel?

How to tell which wire is the hot wire, neutral wire and ground wire [ 10 Answers ]

Want to replace wall toggle switch with timer but can't find the neutral wire [ 2 Answers ]

I am replacing a wall toggle switch for some outside security lights with a programmable timer. But the switch I am removing doesn't have a neutral wire and I can't find one in the box where the feed comes in from the breaker and the lights. The existing switch only uses 2 wires plus the ground...

View more questions Search