Posted on May 28, 2009

Single Pole Dimmer Installation

I wanted to hook up a dimmer switch for the new baby's room.
House has three wires going to the current switch. White wire is on top, black wire is on the bottom and the ground is hooked to the screw the switch is held in place with.
Dimmer is a Leviton decora. It has four wires. Green and red wires out one hole and black and red wires out the other hole. The red wire with the black is labled for a 3 way switch.
What do I hook to what so I don't burn the dang house down? Thanks!

John Morganti May 11, 2010

What is model number? I can not find a wiring diagram based on "Leviton Decora" that has the same colors leads you describe. Is this for installation in the USA? Green is always ground in the US. Black is most likely the power-in (connect to the black wire in the box.) For single pole installation (which your original installation is) one wire from the 3-way switch will connect to the white (that goes to the light), and the other from the 3-way switch will be capped and not used. It needs to be capped or taped to prevent a short circuit in the box. What has me confused is that they are both the same color (red). I want to check a wiring diagram to make sure how the connection should be made.

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Anonymous

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Posted on May 30, 2009

Anonymous

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I'm not sure if this is going to work in your case, but I'm pretty sure it will...

Green to ground (probably bare)
Black to black
White to the red that's not labeled 3-way
wire nut on the red labeled 3-way

That should fixya!

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I'm installing a dimmer switch to control two lights. I have three black wires attached to the original light switch that is a single pole. When I hook up the dimmer switch it does not work.

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