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KapJ1coH t1_iy9kyiv wrote

Reply to comment by WittyMonikerGoesHere in Garbage Disposal wired directly into Dishwasher - fixing wiring and adding outlets by TonyFugginMontana

Wait a second, if I don't have a neutral, can I just connect hot to both hot and neutral terminal? I'm not very knowledgeable in jome electricity so I might be wrong.

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bluGill t1_iy9og18 wrote

This is no longer allowed by code, but it used to be that instead of a neutral people would use the neutral as the switched hot side and no neutral would go to the switch at all. This saves some money, and copper is not cheap.

Hot and neutral go from the breaker to the outlet, the neutral wire is connected to the neutral size of the outlet. Hot is connected to a second wire that goes to the switch, then the neutral from that second line is connected to the other side of the switch and then to the hot side of the outlet. When doing this you were supposed to paint the white wire black (or red) so everyone knew it wasn't neutral, but often this wasn't done.

This is not connecting hot and neutral together. It is taking a wire that is normally used for neutral and using it for hot in a situation where the neutral wire wouldn't be used anyway.

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emcturkeyshirt t1_iy9rzxm wrote

That is up on black back on white rule…. And there is no neutral involved. You’re making the white wire hot……………..hence phasing it black.

Switching a neutral will never work…. In you single phase home…. It just won’t really work.

On a three phase system, well breaking or switching a neutral will create a dangerously unbalanced load. Possibly resulting in blowing up your lights and electronics.

Don’t ever switch a neutral. You can use the white wire as hot in one specific scenario. But it is NOT a neutral.

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WittyMonikerGoesHere t1_iy9p6vq wrote

On a normal switch, there is no neutral terminal. The three connections are for line in, line out, and ground. Neutrals are bridged in a standard wiring situation.

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KapJ1coH t1_iy9z144 wrote

Oh I was talking about a smart switch, sorry if I wasn't clear.

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