Which black wire should be connected to the leftie and which to the rightie when replacing the dimmer switch with two black wires?
Hey there, I need a little help with this dimmer switch I’m trying to install.
So in the picture I shared with you, you can see that on the left side of the yellow box, there are four wires sticking out – two black, two white, and the ground. On the right side, there are three wires – one black, one white, and the ground.
The white wires from both sides are connected together with a nut and don’t need to be connected to the switch.
The two black wires on the left are also connected with a nut, and the resulting single black wire goes into the switch (let’s call it alpha). The single black wire on the right side also goes into the switch (let’s call it beta).
The ground wire obviously goes into the ground screw.
So now I have two black wires, alpha and beta, coming towards the switch. The switch itself also has two black wires, which I’ll just refer to as leftie and rightie for simplicity.
So, do I connect alpha to leftie and beta to rightie? Or is it the other way around, alpha to rightie and beta to leftie? Just want to make sure I’m connecting everything correctly.
In my opinion, those two black wires with the pigtail should be the hot lines and connect to the “line” on the dimmer. The single black wire should be connected to the light you’re controlling (the “load”). The green wire from the dimmer should be connected to the ground wire. You can double-check with a non-contact tester.
Hey there, maybe it’s the opposite and this switch actually controls two different lights. Your best move would be to snap a picture of the wires, turn off the breaker, disconnect them, and then test which wire is live once you turn the breaker back on.
It seems like a Leviton rnl06. There are no markings to indicate which wire is for line or load, so it doesn’t make a difference. I also mentioned using a non-contact tester to confirm the hot wire. Just use a meter or non-contact tester to identify which wire is live, usually you don’t need to wire both fixtures back to the box.
Thanks for the help, but the dimmer doesn’t have any labels anywhere to indicate load or line. It’s impossible to know what the dimmer is connected to. The manufacturer’s instructions are completely unhelpful, as usual.
It’s only connected to the ceiling light, that’s the one it controls.
Are both lights considered fixtures? If one of the fixtures is a ceiling light, then there is only one light in the room.
Hey , I think you have a Leviton dimmer. You can connect the pigtails from the dimmer to the black wires by removing them from the two blacks. Do you know if the dimmer is a rnl06? I couldn’t find any information about whether there is a line or load connection.
Just to clarify, the hot wire is at the bottom. The line is at the top.
So, both wires in black should be connected to the feed and the switch.
So, just to clarify, can either of the black wires coming out of the wall be connected to either of the black wires coming out of the dimmer?
When connecting black to black, it doesn’t really matter. Remove the pigtail from the ground and use the pigtail from the dimmer instead.
So, Scott, can either black wire from the wall be connected to either black wire coming out of the dimmer?
Hey Fred, here’s a typical wiring setup for a dimmer switch. Hope you enjoy the dimmer!
The wiring doesn’t really make a difference, both ways are totally fine.