Switch for hot plate went out,old one was removed,need to know wire color sequence to hook up new switch

I can offer resources:

1) Test switch that was removed, and test for hot connection to narrow down options.

What speed was fan stuck in when switch was removed? Let's say medium speed.
Which connection at fan is hot? Use voltage tester to find hot connection at fan, and match that up with wire-color on switch that was removed.
One and only one wire on 3-speed fan switch connects to hot. And the hot wire is the only wire that connects to each other wire as switch cycles through pull-chain sequence. All pull chain switches follow same sequence: off, low, medium, high.
Let's say old switch was stuck in medium, and you know which color wire connects to hot.
Test switch with continuity tester to see which wire(s) have continuity with hot wire: some switches, it will be 2 wires, and other switches it will be 1 wire. Match where wire(s) were connected, and map that to tests on new switch.

2) Open following link for illustrations and some other links.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-wire-Cooper-277-pilot-light-switch.html#3-speed

Old switch and new switch have to be compared using multi-meter or continuity tester.
Each 3-speed switch has identical pull-chain sequence: off-high-medium-low.
Each 3-speed switch has only one wire that connects to Hot wire.
But the other three wires can vary.
For example connect power to switch Hot wire. Let's say switch is in off position. Pull chain once for high speed and power might flow to just one wire, or it might flow to two wires, depending on the switch.
Pull chain again for medium speed, and power might flow to just one wire, or it might flow to two different wires.
Pull chain again for low speed, and power usually flows to just one wire.

Easiest place to start is to find which wire is Hot.
Only one wire connects to Hot power.
That same wire on the new 3-speed switch will connect to all other wires. When testing, only one wire connects to all other wires.
Once hot wire is determined.
Then test which sequence of wires receives power each time chain is pulled.
Repeat same test on old switch.
Note how old switch was connected. And then map the change-over to new switch.

Open following link for resources:
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-wire-Cooper-277-pilot-light-switch.html#3-speed

Hello sandman, STOP!! Dont do anything else until you kill the bathroom breaker in the breaker box
located by your elect meter. Got it off? Now get a shop light, flashlight, even a lamp w/ext cord.
Position the light so you can see the wires coming out of the wall for switch. The black wires are
the hot ones & the white ones are the return(no power) You have wired your new switch incorrectly
causing the breaker to trip. Check how you have wired the new switch. You neeed one black & one
white wire for each function of the switch. If there is a green wire, it,s for grounding the switch.
Some newer switches have install info stamped on the switch. Kinda hard to see sometme.
Let me know. Happy wiring.......................dansky66

I assume that you have removed the seat and checked that all the harness wires are plugged in correctly. There are two brake light switches one on the handle bars and one on the foot pedal. It is extremely rare that they both stop working at the same time. Unless one switch has been broken for a while and you did not notice the brake light was not working until the second switch went out. It sounds like you have a common problem any older light bulb socket can have. Remove the tail light lens and take out the bulb. Look carefully at the contact plate. If it has gotten too hot one of the contacts may have sunken into the plate and no longer touches the contact on the bulb. This happens a lot. You can take a socket plate out of any old dual filament light socket by pushing on one side,cocking it at an angle, and pulling it out with the wires attached. Install the good plate in your socket by feeding the wires through the spring and out the wire holes. Cut and solder the your old wires onto the wires on the new socket plate minding which wire is the running light and which wire is the stop light. If you make a make a mistake it is not hard to remedy , either switch the wires (resolder) or plug them into the wrong colors. The dim filament is the tail light and the bright filament is the stop light.

You are install a switch-receptacle combo.

As you have realized, screw color is the key.
1) Black hot wire connects to dark colored screws.
Both dark screws are connected together with brass plate, so hot wire only needs to connect to one of the dark screws.

2) Wire going to Load (light,fan, motor) connects to brass colored screw.

3) White neutral wire connects to silver colored screw.

4) Lets look at problem as if new wiring device is replacing old on-off switch that has two wires.
So old on-off switch has two wires >> one is black hot wire, and other is wire going to load.
Separate wires, turn on power and test each wire to bare ground wire.
Tester lights up on hot wire. This wire goes on dark screw.
If old on-off switch had another wire connected with the hot wire, that wire also goes on the dark screw.
The other wire from old switch is the Load wire, and it connects to brass colored screw.

Now you need a neutral wire.
In back of box are white wires twisted together and covered with wire nut.
These are neutrals.
To confirm that these wires are neutrals >> turn on power and test hot wire to other wires in box. Tester lights up on neutral.
Neutral wire connects to silver screw, and this will complete the circuit for any electric device plugged into receptacle.
If box does not have neutral wires as described above, you can violate code and connect bare ground to silver screw >>> but do NOT do this if your new plug is going to be used regularly.
You can use bare ground temporarily until additional wiring is made available.

It takes 2 testers.
regular tester


Continuity tester has battery and light bulb.

Use regular tester to find Hot wire that feeds old-switch.
Remove old-switch from fan
Strip back wires
Separate wires so they can be tested.
Turn on power.
Test each wire to bare copper wire -or- to green wire -or- to metal part of fan
One of the fan wires will light up tester.
This is the Hot wire.
Mark Hot wire.
Mark which color wire on old-switch went to the hot wire.

Use continuity tester on old-switch.
You know which wire is hot-on-old-switch
Pull chain and test hot-on-old-switch to both of the other wires.
When tester lights up, mark this wire.
Pull chain again and test hot-on-old-switch to both of the other wires.
When tester lights up, mark this wire.
At some point when you pull the chain, the tester will light up both the other wires.
This is the high speed.

Use continuity tester on new-switch.
Repeat the test for old-switch.
Identify which wire will be the Hot wire by process of elimination.
Mark this wire.
Identify high-speed wire.
Pull chain again, and tester lights up on medium speed.
Pull chain again, and tester lights up on low speed
Identify these wires and match pattern to the old-switch

If you need more help, add a comment, and I will answer

Review old switches:
Two old switches > each has 2 wires
Old switch 1 > Red and White
Old switch 2 > Black and White
The same white wire connects to both switches, so effectively they count as 1 wire
This means you have 3 wires ... 1 White, 1 Red, 1 Black
Each switch controls a separate load (light, fan, motor)

New Leviton double-rocker switch:
-Leviton has 2 Brass-colored screws on one side, and these screws are connected together by a brass plate >> your Hot wire will connect to brass screw
-Leviton has 2 Silver-colored screws on other side, and neither of these screws are connected in any way >> the wires going to each load will connect on a different screw on this side of switch.

Hot wire: Each box in your house has exactly 1 hot wire that is connected back to breaker box. This is true for all boxes (excluding boxes that have a 3-way & 4-way switches).
We need to identify Hot wire.

-By code the Hot wire is black for identification purposes ... but your box sounds like maybe the Hot wire is White.
-If your Hot wire is white, that is NOT an immediate safety issue ... it will not cause a fire or malfunction ... it is a code violation ... because code requires things be uniform so next electrician knows what previous guy did. So some day, electrician working outside grabs wrong color wire, and wow. I say this so you know.

Moving on.

Identify Hot wire:
-Pull 3 wires up so they can be tested
-Turn on power
-Use ordinary tester, or old lamp with plug cut off and wires stripped back
-Tape tester lead to sticks so hands are away from voltage
-Power is on. Don't stand in water or touch metal pipes, and you're fine.
-You have 3 wires in box + ground wire
-Test all 3 wires to bare ground wire >> when tester lights up, that is Hot wire ... testing is complete

Connect wires to Leviton double-rocker:
-Power is OFF.
-You have 3 wires - 1 White, 1 Black, 1 Red >> one is Hot wire, the other two wires go to load
-Hot wire connects to Brass-colored screws on new Leviton.
-Brass colored screws are connected together by a brass plate so the Hot does not need to connect to both brass screws.
-The other two wires connect to Silver screws on other side of new Leviton switch
-One wire goes to each silver screw
-Connect bare ground wire to green screw.
-Push wires back into box. Use eraser end of pencil if needed.
-Make sure ground wire is back and away from screws on switch
-That's it.

you are looking for a green/white wire(+) and the blck is the (-) to be sure get a test light and clip to a good groung=d on the body and turn your parking lights on then probe the wire making sure it turns on and of with the switch(use a helper)

You can take the front cover off of your programmable thermostat. Unscrew approximately 2 screws that attach the base plate of the thermostat to the wall. Look in the back of the base plate after removing it from the wall to see how the 2 or 3 different colored wires (ex: red, green, black) are hooked up. Make note of this. Remove the wires from the back of the base plate and attach the wires to the same posts that they were connected to on the original base plate you removed. I believe the posts on the back of the base plates are color coded. (Ex: attach green wire to where it says GRN on back of base plate).
Make sure the thermostat that you are replacing and the new thermostat are similiar in shape, otherwise you will have make repairs to cover up a space that may appear around the new thermostat.

Good luck!

There should be a wire diagram on the back side of the panel you took off to get to the sequencer