It possible to use a pull chain or a motion light
in this case you lose the switch but you wont have to sbake wires only a rewiring of the light fixture
If you have 2 wires, one is the hot wire the other is the switch leg. No neutral. The neutral is most likely in the light outlet box. Need to run 14/3 from light outlet to switch box. Abandon existing wire. Connect black to hot wire at light outlet box, white to neutral at light outlet box, red to light fixture. Ground to ground and all exposed metal parts. At switch black to dark screw (feeds switch & receptical) white to receptical lite colored screw, red (switch leg) to switch. Bare ground to box (if metal ) and ground screw.
From CA, USA... assuming 120VAC pre 1965 construction.
With only two wires, both connecting to the switch, implies a "switch loop". One wire provides constant line voltage to the switch and the other wire feeds the "switched" line voltage back to the light. If in fact this is a two wire switch loop, with no other wires in the box, then there's no neutral wire or ground for that matter. Adding a receptacle will require pulling in a neutral wire (plus).
Adding the neutral will involve fishing another electrical cable into the existing box. Usually not a difficult task for an experienced tradesman, but now the "plus", there are another code restrictions (think $$$s). So when you call an electrician thinking maybe $50-75 and they quote triple or quadruple that, its because what would've been 1/2 hr task in 1970s is now 2-4 hrs because of additional code safety requirements.
It cannot be done. You will have to pull another wire from the box that the switch wire goes to. If there are only two wires in the box then the whole building is probably not run with the nuetral wire and it is therefore going to be more effort than it is worth.
SOURCE: I installed gfi outlet and I have no power!
turn off circuit, test to make sure its off.
remove the old outlet
black and white wires from breaker attach to line
the wires to the rest of the series attach to load
loop wires to attach in clockwise direction
use electrical tape around outside of outlet to protect terminals.
http://www.thecircuitdetective.com/gfi.gif
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f25/silverbird1996/?action=view¤t=GFCI1.jpg
SOURCE: how can i wire a combination switch outlet
first try putting the red and black together and the whites together...turn on power, if the lamp lights all the time then keep reading,
(if not you need find out which is hot and which is going to the lamp this can get complicated if the color code is not followed)
find out if the blk is hot all the time or if the red is hot you need a tester for this. its easier to make a double pig tail on the hot wire and put one of the pigtails on one side of the switch and the other on the BRASS screw on the recpt. now put the other wire (red or blk) on the other side of the switch no pig tail. then tie the whites together with a single pigtail and put the pig tail on the SILVER side of the recpt. make sure you tie in a ground as well or the GFI will not work.
hope this helps
SOURCE: how do you wire a GFCI light switch and outlet
If I understand correctly, you are replacing a single switch that has two wires.
You want to install a switch/plug-gfci similar to one shown below.
You are working on wires inside a box:
To wire this kind of device you need at least 2 cables entering the box.
Each cable has a black-white-ground wire.
Cable 1) One cable comes from breaker box. This is the Hot cable
Hot cable has black-hot-from-breaker & white-neutral-from-breaker
Cable 2) One cable goes to the Load (light, fan motor). This wire is controlled by the switch. This is the Load cable
Load cable has black-to-load & white-to-load.
Leviton combo GFCI and Switch
There are 2 screws on either side of switch
There are 2 screws to either side of plug
There are two wires on back of device
2 screws on either side of switch: there is a brass-colored screw and silver-colored screw.
Black-hot-from-breaker connects to brass colored screw on side of switch
White-neutral-from-breaker connects to silver colored screw on side of switch
2 black wires on back of device
Black-to-load connects to black wire on same side of switch as brass-colored screws
White-to-load connects to black wire on same side of switch as silver-colored screws
2 screws on either side of plug
These screws are used when your box is a 'junction' box that feeds wires forward to another box ... for example you have 4 receptacles in a room, the cable enters first box and then goes to the next box and to the next box. Suppose your switch was one of the boxes. Wire arrives from a previous box (this is the Hot cable, every box has 1 Hot cable). Your switch box sends one cable to the Load (light, fan etc), but it also sends another cable to the next box which has a receptacle or another switch.
If your box has a third cable that feeds forward to other boxes, then the screws on either side of plug are used. The black-to-next-box goes to brass screw. The white-to-next-box connects to silver screw.
And all further boxes and devices are protected by the GFCI device.
If you need more information, please answer back and I will help.
SOURCE: We are trying to install
You are installing a combo device with switch and outlet.
The outlet is tamper resistant so a child cannot stick a key into outlet and get shocked.
For the outlet to work, a 2-prong plug must be inserted.
Wiring the device:
Electricians don't guess, they test.
Device has different colored screws: dark, silver and brass.
Separate wires for testing.
Do not unwind wires that are twisted together.
White wires that are twisted together and located in back of box are included in testing.
Use ordinary 2-lead tester.
Tape tester leads to wood sticks to keep hands away from power.
Turn power ON.
Test each wire to bare ground wire.
Tester lights up on Hot wire. This wire connects to dark screw.
Hot is identified.
Test Hot wire to all other wires, except bare ground wire.
Tester lights up on Neutral wire. Neutral connects to silver screw.
If you do not have a Neutral wire, then outlet will not work for that location.
You can get the outlet to work by connecting bare ground to silver screw, but that is violation of code.
Last wire goes to Load (light, fan, motor).
Load wire connects to brass screw.
In your case, this is red wire.
Add a comment for more free help.
Also take advantage of fixya phone service.
For a price, expert speaks with you over phone while you work on switch or any do-it-yourself project.
Fixya is always less expensive than a service call.
SOURCE: I'm wanting to install a
How many sets of wires are coming into the box?
If the box is in the middle of the circuit you will have a power-source black & white wire coming in and a power-source black & white wire going out. And in this case for the switch - there must be a black and a white wire going to a light.
Typically with a switch/outlet combination all the white wires will splice together with a white pig-tail wire to feed the neutral side of the device. The two black wires from the power-source will splice together with a black pig-tail and feed the hot-side of the device. The black wire going to the light will go on one side of the switch.
Looking at outlet/switch device from the front the large slot side of the outlet will be the neutral side and the smaller outlet slot will be the hot side. The neutral side screws will be steel colored and the hot side screws will be brass colored. The white wires will go to the neutral side steel colored screws, and the black wires will go on the hot side brass colored screws on the outlet.
The black wire comig into the box from the light is called a switchleg and goes to a brass screw on one side of the switch. The brass screw on the otherside of the switch will be for the black wire coming from the power-source.
Hope this helps - and please:
TURN THE BREAKER OFF BEFORE YOU START WORKING WITH THE WIRES!
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thanks Cari Rock it's not into Old School wiring no ground pre 70s for sure but this was like combo was there for a while then I removed it years ago. it is pre 65 wiring knob and tube no ground there is an Outlet nearby I could pigtail another Hotwire from there I remember that's how it was then just don't remember the exact configuration the new receptacle has 2 silver 2 brass 2 black screws 1 grd. With a tab Not broken off. and I have a voltage tester does this help you help me?
That helps, but I cant reconcile knob&tube and that it once worked as a switch receptacle combo with only two wires.
I suspect what you have at this box is armored cable that a previous electrical hack wired in against code. Removing it years ago was probably best thing you could have done.
I suggest you contact a local electrician to have this done safe and proper.
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