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    rshanks66's Avatar
    rshanks66 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Apr 26, 2007, 03:32 PM
    Wiring one switch to operate two lights
    I'm remodelling my bathroom and want to add a light above the vanity that operates off the same existing switch that operates the overhead light.

    The power current comes from the ceiling fixture to the switch.

    I added the vanity light along the cable on its way to the switch. However, now when I operate the switch one light turns on and the other truns off.

    Any thoughts? Thanks.
    ballengerb1's Avatar
    ballengerb1 Posts: 27,378, Reputation: 2280
    Home Repair & Remodeling Expert
    		  
    #2

    Apr 26, 2007, 03:41 PM
    The cable runnig from the light to the switch was two (damage control) the rest of my answer was so totally wrong I had to delete it so no one would try it. Apparently at a certain age one loses the ability to talk on the phone and use the computer at the same time. Sorry Shank and others, go with Anthony.
    rshanks66's Avatar
    rshanks66 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #3

    Apr 26, 2007, 03:55 PM
    I'm not sure I got that.

    Currently, he black and the white are running from the ceiling fixture to the switch.

    I pigtailed off both the black and the white wires to add the vanity light between the ceiling fixture and the switch.

    Was this incorrect?
    Anthony_'s Avatar
    Anthony_ Posts: 38, Reputation: 1
    Junior Member
    		  
    #4

    Apr 26, 2007, 06:14 PM
    Yes, you are tied to the hot and switch leg going to the switch. You have no neutral for your vanity light, even though it's a white wire there, it's not a neutral. You can tie to the light fixture, and pick up your switch leg and neutral there.
    labman's Avatar
    labman Posts: 10,580, Reputation: 551
    Uber Member
    		  
    #5

    Apr 26, 2007, 07:11 PM
    Anthony's answer is correct, but I want to put it a different way. You need a hot when the switch is on and a neutral connected to the second light. Easiest way is to parallel it from the existing light, hot to hot, and neutral to neutral. The switch loop doesn't have a neutral at all, just a hot and a hot when the switch is on. So to get a neutral, you must start at the first light.
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