Electricians please help me!! PLEASE!

I need some help with a light switch in my room. At the moment i dont have power to my setup. However, directly above my cabinet there is a light switch. I unscrewed the cover and took photo's.

What i want is to be able to cut the end of my multi-plug (4-way) and wire it into this switch so that when the light is on (i will leave it on always) the grox box has power. Can someone have a look at the insides of the swith and tell me what goes where..... if needed i will post more pics, just ask.

The photos are of the insides of the light switch, i will cut power to the house before any wiring.

Please help.... please please please.



This is the first time i have uploaded pics so if it dont work i will keep trying.

if you need more pics let me know i will take them straight away and post immediately

sputniknz said:

I need some help with a light switch in my room. At the moment i dont have power to my setup. However, directly above my cabinet there is a light switch. I unscrewed the cover and took photo's.

What i want is to be able to cut the end of my multi-plug (4-way) and wire it into this switch so that when the light is on (i will leave it on always) the grox box has power. Can someone have a look at the insides of the swith and tell me what goes where..... if needed i will post more pics, just ask.

The photos are of the insides of the light switch, i will cut power to the house before any wiring.

Please help.... please please please.

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This is the first time i have uploaded pics so if it dont work i will keep trying.

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hows it going from the pics you have it looks to me like you have a dead end switch meaning only wires in that box are a hot and a switch leg just looping back up to the light so the actual hot wire (incoming power) is tied together in the light fixture the way you can tell is there is no neutral wire in the switch box which is mandatory for a light to light up this may create a problem if you are trying to jump power to another light for the fact of course there is no neutral wire in the box to jump off of. one question do you live in the states???

and is the light a 3 way switch (multiple switches turn on the same light from different locations)???

i think you can figure this one out youself

I'm no electrician but I'd guess you need to draw power from the light socket itself and not the switch. =)

drgreentm said:

hows it going from the pics you have it looks to me like you have a dead end switch meaning only wires in that box are a hot and a switch leg just looping back up to the light so the actual hot wire (incoming power) is tied together in the light fixture the way you can tell is there is no neutral wire in the switch box which is mandatory for a light to light up this may create a problem if you are trying to jump power to another light for the fact of course there is no neutral wire in the box to jump off of. one question do you live in the states???

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can you simplify please..... and no i am in New Zealand

negative... this switch only affects the light shown

brownbearclan said:

I'm no electrician but I'd guess you need to draw power from the light socket itself and not the switch. =)

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yeah...i did think of that but that means hanging wires, might give away my grow.... would prefer to just rig it into the switch box

Hi I am an electrician, and both other guys are right there is no neutral and the best way to dodge this up would be to take the power directly from the light fitting

Blazn said:

Hi I am an electrician, and both other guys are right there is no neutral and the best way to dodge this up would be to take the power directly from the light fitting

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Ok that sounds like a final locked in asnwer will do it that way, was hoping to leave the light fitting in place. Thanks guys.

well i have never worked in new zeland but if its 120v power like in the states then i will tell you if you want to make this work its going to take some work and could get real complicated for someone who isnt a electrician. is it a must for your power source to come from this box.

drgreentm said:

well i have never worked in new zeland but if its 120v power like in the states then i will tell you if you want to make this work its going to take some work and could get real complicated for someone who isnt a electrician. is it a must for your power source to come from this box.

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No, power here in NZ is 230/240v 50hz. Is that better or worse, are you able to advise whether running a 600w HPS and a standard oscilating fan.

Blazn said:

Hi I am an electrician, and both other guys are right there is no neutral and the best way to dodge this up would be to take the power directly from the light fitting

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take the power directly from the light fitting

Question: The wire that goes from the ceiling to the light fitting has two wires only(joined sidebyside). When i cut the extension lead there are three wires, presumably the cable to the light has + and -, but no ground. Will it matter to the operation of the grow gear if there is no third wire??????

the ground is not necessary the hot and the neutral wires are needed for lights and what not just do away with it or cap it off again this is coming from someone in the states i have been a electrition for 6 years and worked it 6 states as well but never in new zeland. hope this helps

Hi Sputniknz,

In my opinion the wiring looks rather old and dodgy. I would get someone to have a quick look if you can. Light wire is not ideal for the loads you will be putting on. Some photo's of the circuit breaker at the board would also be helpful.

sputniknz said:

Question: The wire that goes from the ceiling to the light fitting has two wires only(joined sidebyside). When i cut the extension lead there are three wires, presumably the cable to the light has + and -, but no ground. Will it matter to the operation of the grow gear if there is no third wire??????

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I'm pretty sure it needs an earth wire.

Ropata said:

Hi Sputniknz,

In my opinion the wiring looks rather old and dodgy. I would get someone to have a quick look if you can. Light wire is not ideal for the loads you will be putting on. Some photo's of the circuit breaker at the board would also be helpful.

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Hello Mr Ropata, LOL..... yeah i tried hooking it up through the light fitting... plugged in fan, ballast and a small heater(to test) and noticed the hallway light flickering as the fan was oscilating... i unplugged the heater and the flickering was only just a bit noticeable... moral of this is..... seek power elsewhere.... so, i got a freind to drag a lead under the house so all is hooked up now.... i am germinating one seed at the moment, as its my first i want to try one first, if it works i will throw in 4 more. Problem with all that was, up until today nobody knew of or had seen my grow box, and although it was covered over when he came i am sure he knew what was going on, not too worried as he is oldschool, and more importantly a good freind of 20+ years.... But i was really hoping that the only person that knew about it would be me and my wife.... oh well might have to send him a blunt or two LOL

PS: Your signature is so true and something i truly beleive in, the gangs would take a big hit if there profits from pot were taken out of the equation.
And yeah, the wiring is old as fuck... i bought this house when i was healthy, me and my wife had big plans to renovate.... but alas i have landed in a chair and renovations are just a dream at the moment. The house has is a historic landmark and from what we know is over 115 years old... very run down but it was cheap. +rep for the advice though...