any electricians out there?

[Redoog]

i wired up some switches for my lighting. I noticed that one of my led xmas light strings will stay on. It willlbe dim, but on. I have two outlets, and it does it in both. It has the xmas plug, so you can plug 2 to the same plug. If i plug anouther in on top of it, it will go out.

Both outlets work fine when off, and my multi function lights go off in both.

The switches are 15a lighted.

wonder what i did wrong, or is it the switches themselves??

I have them lugged in to a gfi outlet that i wired myself, but tests ok.

here is how i wired this all up

 

[bob965]

Kinda hard to tell what you've got going on there. Your drawing shows 2 switches and what I presume to be one plug with 2 loads, but then your pics show 3 switches and 2 plugs. Provide a little more info and I'd be glad to help.

 

[Redoog]

the third switch is seperate from the other two. In the third pic the two male plugs you see, one feeds one switch, which controls the sump. The other runs to the other two switches wired like the drawing.

this is the whole package

clearer?

 

[bob965]

Ok, gotcha. Your wiring is correct. I would just double check everything and make sure it's wired how you think it's wired. Make sure all your connections are tight, and make sure you haven't pinched any insulation under any terminals. Don't forget the inside of the plugs, gotta check those too. If everything looks okay, then it's just a matter of following generic troubleshooting procedures....start swapping out components and eliminating things as possible causes, for example, plug in your light strings one at a time in a different outlet you know is working fine. Try eliminating one of the switches and see if just one by itself works, then try the other one.

 

[JakeH]

You need a multi-meter. A GFCI plug-bug is a good idea, too. When you get back from Wal-Mart, carefully check all your connections & let us know what you find out.

 

[Bderick67]

Do the christmas lights work properly if plugged in witout the switches?

 

[Redoog]

well, i dont have any switched outlets in my house to double check.

The one strand, just a cheap xmas light led, is the wierd one, but it can not be the lights, because how could a light work without power.

It comes on full bright using either of the switched plugs. But also on either of the plugs, when the switchs are off, the lights do not go off, just get really dim.

 

[Bderick67]

Are you sure the black wire is hooked up to the hot prong on the plug? If you have the black and white swapped on the plug then you are actually switching the neutral(this is dangerous) but it would still work. Then with the light stringers always carrying voltage if their is some leakage to ground this could account for the dim lights.

 

[Redoog]

so i turned both switches off, got anouther light set, trid it in both, at it is dim in both. not sure wher power bleed could come from? if it is not just the lighted switches. what i am thinking, because they only light up when off, AND ONLY if something is plugged in to them.

 

[Bderick67]

Did you check the hook up at the male plug? Are these switches lighted?