Divine Back Wire Light Switch

At the light the white wire connects to the neutral terminal and the black wire connects to the hot.

Back wire light switch. The source hot wire is connected to a switch terminal and the other terminal is connected to the black cable wire. The ground wire sometimes in a green jacket should be connected to your switch and to your lights. Back wiring a device is when the wires black white green etc are slid under the terminal clamp to the appropriate screw.

The white or neutral wire bypasses the switch and goes straight to your lights. This gauge is when you want to use the quick connect method when wiring a light switch. And an added benefit is that many include a back wire feature not to be confused with cheap stab in connections which we don t recommend using for wiring a light switch.

An example of a back wired electrical receptacle is shown at above right. I am replacing my single pole light switch and noticed when i removed the old switch that there are three black wires coming from the box. Tighten the screw so it holds the wire firmly in place.

The old switch was attached with two blacks inserted into the back of the switch with another black attached to the screw. Just strip it push it in and tighten the screw when wiring a switch. Connect the source wire to the bottom terminal of the switch and the other black wire to the top terminal.

Of the three black wires only one of them is hot. All the white wires are capped together and the same is for the ground wires. Typically these electrical switches or receptacles are referred to as backwired if the push in connectors on the device back surface are used to make electrical wiring connections.

This wire is needed to complete the circuit. To do this use a pair of pliers to bend the wire creating a fish hook and place the hook around the appropriate screw. The source is at the switch and 2 wire cable runs from there to the light.