Light switch question?

want to change a single throw switch which controls 2 lights to 2 separate switches. i have 3 neutrals tied together and grounds are tied together,2 blacks on 1 side and 1 black on the other side.there seems to be 1 set of wires coming in(blk,wht,grnd) and then 2 other sets going out to the different lights.any suggestions on how to wire this properlyLight switch question?You may not be able to do this, I'll explain.



It depends on which wires are hot. With the switch in the off position, use a volt meter to see which set of wires is hot. If it is the single set (one black, one white, and one grnd) then you're in business. If it's the other side with 2 sets, then you can't do what you want to do. The reason is one of those two sets is bringing in power to the switch with the other set taking it to another device( a receptacle or another switch).



If it is the first situation, with power %26quot;dead ending%26quot; into your switch box, and then going out to two different lights then you can separate the two blacks to become two different switch legs. Take two pieces of black wire and splice it onto the single %26quot;hot%26quot; wire. You now have two hot wires and two switch legs to go to two separate switches. Now you can buy a stacked switch which is shaped like a receptacle but has switches instead of the smiley face, or you can replace the single gang box and replace it with a two gang box.Light switch question?when doing switches, you dont have to touch the neutral, and only have to take the ground off the old switch and put it on the new switch (GREEN screw). now, if the 2 wires that come in to the one side of the switch each go to a light, then all you do with the %26quot;tandem%26quot; switch is put one wire on each screw labeled %26quot;LOAD%26quot; and the wire that was by itself on the old switch to one of the screws marked %26quot;LINE%26quot; the line side of the new switch should have a little piece of metal going between both line side screws. the only downfall is that sometimes one light powers up the next one down the line, in which case the scenario i attempted to explain would not work properly.Light switch question?What is your question?

Just hook the the new switch the same as the old one.

Is your new switch a 3 way switch ? maybe you got a standard switch with only 2 connections. maybe that is your problem.

A three way switch is when you have 2 switches controling one light.

It has 2 travelers connecting the two switches together. and one switch has a hot lead the other has a lead going to the light.

the 2 travelers can get mixed up doesnt matter. they should go on brass screws the other wire (common) should be on a black screw.



update: I reread your post and i think you want to add a new switch to create a 3 way. This can get complicated and requieres phishing up to 3 wires through your walls and ceiling. luckily this is the 21 century and they make a wireless add on wall switch that you can add anywhereLight switch question?Ok I gather you want to make 2 separate on/off switches instead of 1 on two lights wired with its wires going into the same switch box. First you have to add a section to or replace the box to allow 2 switches then hook the incoming black wire (of the single white /black pair) to one post on one of the switches then double that up (using the same post) with a short jumper black wire running to the other switch then connect one black out going wire on 1 of the switches remaining posts (either switch depending on which one you want to control that light) and the other out going black wire on the other remaining switch leave everything else the same except of course to connect the bare wire to each green ground post on the switches this all assumes that the single incoming wire is you power source you may want to verify that