Answers to Electrical Questions About Lighting Circuits and Dryers

June 23, 2008

Question mark Ralph Stukenberg asks:
I am doing some electrical work for my mother-in-law, she wants to replace a new light in ceiling of closed in porch plus a security light on outside of same porch how can I do this with just the one switch she already has and to keep the other box on all the time for the motion light!! thank you, Ralph

Answer:
There are several ways this can be done. It just depends upon your scenario. The simplest and easiest way is if there is a hot and neutral in the switch box and you can install the motion light just above the switch box. To do this, cut in a box outside where you will install the new motion sensor light, fish a 2 conductor cable with a ground down to the switch box and make your terminations. I really need to know more information about your exact scenario before I can present more options.

Matt asks:
I want to install a new light fixture. The fixture itself has 1 white wire, 1 black wire and the ground wire. However the wiring from the house has an additional red wire. When I wired it, I left the red wire capped, but when I turned the switch on, the circuit breaker flipped. How should I connect the wires?

Answer:
I’m not sure. There are several possible options. You need to check voltage and see what you have. Check between the neutral (white wire) and each colored wire. Check with the switch off and with the switch on. The connections should be, ground to ground, neutral to neutral and the black from the light to the switched conductor. The switched conductor will read approximately 120 volts between the neutral and itself with the switch on and 0 volts with the switch off.

Leslie asks:
I changed a 4 prong dryer cord to a 3 prong cord. I dried two loads of wash then the dryer stopped working. The original cord connected at three spots on the block – then had forth cord that connected to a different area on the back of the dryer. The 3 prong cord only had 3 connections. Do you know what could have happened to make it stop working?

Answer:
I’m not a dryer expert, but I’ll bet that a high limit switch is bad. This typically happens when you move. The lint from over the years is forced down the lint trap and gets clogged right below the dryer’s door. The lint drops down a thin rectangular duct where is usually changes to a round duct below the door at the bottom of the dryer. The lint usually gets clogged at this “bottle neck”, the dryer overheats and burns out the high limit switch.

A place that I recommend for the replacement parts and to confirm if this is the problem or not is AppliancePartsPros.com - They offer Part Photos & Diagrams. Live Help. Same Day Shipping. Return Any Part

David asks:
My dryer seems that it is not getting hot and drying my clothes. Ive cleaned the outside vent and put a new silver hose on. Is there something inside my dryer that a have to replace.

Answer:
The heating elements. However, as I stated in the above answer, I’m not a dryer expert. I recommend contacting AppliancePartsPros.com - They offer Part Photos & Diagrams. Live Help. Same Day Shipping. Return Any Part

Popularity: 2% [?]

Do you need assistance with your electrical wiring project? Please visit my DIY Electrical Wiring Help from a Master Electrician page. Where I provide electrical wiring tips, expert electrical advice, answers to your electrical questions and electrical consulting & design services over the phone, via instant messenger or via email.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed or receive updates via email

Written by Wayne Gilchrist · Filed Under Electrical Installations & Repairs

Comments

Do you have a question or idea to add to this post? Feel free to post it below. Due to a large backlog and an overwhelming response, it takes approximately 30 days to receive an answer to your electrical question for free. Simply subscribe to this blog (use one of the subscription methods listed in the top right corner of this page) and your answer will be listed in a new blog post in the near future.

To receive an immediate answer (in less than 24 hours) please visit my DIY Electrical Wiring Help from a Master Electrician page.