How to connect an outlet and a switch from one wire

The electrical wiring of any room, whether it is a huge country house or a small outbuilding (basement, garage, country house), includes the main three elements - a switch, a socket and a light bulb. As long as they remain relevant always and everywhere. When repairing, building or redevelopment, you will definitely encounter them. Therefore, elementary knowledge of electrical engineering will not be superfluous - what is the connection diagram of the switch and socket, how does it work and what materials and tools will be required for its installation?

Below are detailed step-by-step instructions, with the guidance of which the installation of sockets and switches with your own hands will be possible even for an inexperienced electrician.

What is needed to switch the circuit?

Electrical wiring can be open and hidden. In this article, we will consider the connection of sockets and switches, made according to the second option, when all electrical switching is hidden under a layer of plaster. Hidden execution is the most common type of wiring, open wiring is usually used as a temporary option.

Wall preparation

Before you connect the socket and switch in the room, you need to prepare holes in the wall for their installation and strobes in which the wires will be laid. There should be three holes in total - for the junction box and for the connected switching devices.

It is better to draw an approximate drawing on a piece of paper in advance, where exactly you plan to connect the switch and socket, and along what route the wires will be laid to these places.

The hole for the junction box is made, as a rule, under the ceiling, 10-15 cm lower. The holes for the switching devices are made at the place of their planned installation. It is better to mount the socket at a distance of 30 cm from the clean floor, where household appliances will be connected to it. It is advisable to install the switch at the entrance to the room at the level of the lowered hand of an adult - about 90 cm from the finished floor. These works are carried out with an electric drill with a special crown for brick or concrete, a perforator with a pobedite drill, an impact drill or an angle grinder.

When installing strobes, consider a few important rules:

1. They can only be horizontal or vertical, no tilt is allowed.
2. The entire path of the strobe from the junction box to the installation sites of the socket and switch must pass with a minimum number of turns.
3. Vertical gates should not be brought closer to window and door openings by less than 10 cm, and to gas pipes - by less than 40 cm.

For mounting the strobe, you can use a hammer and a chisel, a puncher, a grinder or a special tool with a strobe cutter.

When all the holes and strobes are ready, carefully clean them of dust with a vacuum cleaner.

Installation elements and tool

To perform the electrical part of the work, you will need the following materials and tools:

• distribution (junction) box, in which all wires are connected;
• two plastic or polypropylene mounting boxes (sockets), they are needed in order to securely fix the switching devices in the wall holes;
• indoor outlet;
• indoor switch with one key;
• lighting device;
• a set of screwdrivers (flat and Phillips);
• knife or stripper for stripping insulation from cores;
• pliers with insulated handles;
• clamps or electrical tape;
• indicator screwdriver.

To switch the entire electrical circuit, you still need a two-wire wire. Now in electrical stores there is a huge assortment of wire and cable, so take one right away so that each core has its own color insulation, for example, red and blue. This will make it easier to switch the circuit, you won’t have to look for phase and zero with devices, you just need to connect wires of the same color.

In order to fix the wires laid in the strobes, you will also need alabaster and a spatula.

Wiring diagram

The electrical circuit is a parallel connection to the power source of a lighting fixture with a light bulb, a switch and a socket.

Preparatory work

Before starting any electrical work, secure your work area. Turn off the introductory machine to the apartment. Well, if it is already at the entrance to the apartment, that is, you will be sure that by turning it off, no one will be able to turn the machine back on. In the case when the automatic device is located on the landing in the general shield, turn off the automatic device of your apartment and hang a poster "Do not turn it on!" or put someone to control. You can't joke with electricity!

After turning off the machine, you must once again make sure that there is no voltage, now with the help of an indicator screwdriver. To begin with, check its working condition in a section that is obviously energized, for example, at the entrance to the machine. The indicator lights up after touching the phase, which means it is in good condition. Now touch the indicator screwdriver to the cores of the supply wire, which is brought into the apartment from the machine, there should be no glow. So the stress is off and you can get to work.

Lay the wires in the strobes made, leading them to the wall holes. At the same time, leave the ends 10-15 cm for cutting the cores, do not regret it, it is better to make a slightly larger margin than to suffer later when connecting and connecting. Install the junction box and socket boxes in the holes, use gypsum or alabaster to securely fix them.

Electric installation work

Run a two-core cable from the mains (phase and zero) into the junction box. Three wires should be laid from the box: one to the switch, the second to the lamp, the third to the outlet.

For a wire whose cores have different colors of insulation, red indicates phase, blue indicates zero.

The switch has an input and output contact, a phase conductor is connected at the input. Connect the second core to the output contact of the switch.

A two-wire wire must also be laid to the lamp. There are two contacts in the lamp socket. The central spring contact (phase) serves to directly supply voltage to the light bulb. The side contact in the cartridge is zero, the lamp will come into contact with it after screwing it in with its base.

Another two-wire wire is laid from the junction box to the outlet. This switching device has a contact part, consisting of two terminals, to which phase and zero are connected.

The connection diagram of the switch, lamp and socket in the junction box is as follows:

1. Connect the neutral conductor from the supply wire to the zero conductors going to the lamp and the socket.
2. Connect the phase conductor from the supply wire to the phase conductors going to the switch and socket.
3. Connect the remaining wire from the output contact of the switch to the phase wire of the lamp.

All connections must be made as firmly as possible to ensure reliable contact. This can be done in the old-fashioned way - by twisting, which is still desirable to solder from above. There are also more modern devices: special pads (in which the wire is clamped under the screw) or PPE (connecting insulating clamps).

For more information about connecting wires in a junction box, see this video:

Checking the scheme and completing the work

Spread all the twists in different directions so that they do not touch each other and check the operation of the assembled circuit. Turn on the introductory machine to the apartment, thereby supplying voltage from the power source to the newly mounted junction box. The switch is in the “off” position, the lamp is off, which means that everything is correct, the phase is open. Now press the switch key to the “on” position, the electrical circuit closes and voltage is already supplied from the power source to the lamp through it, the light bulb lights up. The voltage will be constantly present at the outlet, you can check its operation by connecting any household appliance. Insert the plug of a hair dryer, radio or electric kettle into the socket and check its operation.

Now turn off the introductory machine again and securely insulate the places of twists with electrical tape, you can still put PVC tubes on top. Carefully lay all the connected wires in the box so that it then closes with a lid.

It remains only to securely place the switch and the socket in the sockets, fix it, put on the protective covers on top. The junction box is also closed with a lid; for any repair work, never hide it under wallpaper or plaster. Remember, the junction box should always be accessible, no matter how it spoils the overall look of your room.

Very important! Before connecting the switch, make sure that you connect exactly the phase conductor to its input contact, do not confuse it with zero. The switching device must only work on a phase break. Otherwise, there will always be voltage present in the lamp socket, even when the switch is in the off position. And this causes the danger of getting under voltage during an elementary replacement of a burned-out light bulb.

Also keep in mind that if the lighting fixture and the socket are structurally grounded, then a three-wire wire will be required for their electrical circuit. The same wire of three cores should also come to the junction box from the power source. Usually, the grounding conductor is indicated in green or yellow, in the same way in the box it will be necessary to connect three protective grounding conductors into one twist - from the power source, socket and lamp.

Other scheme options

Similarly, you can connect a socket, a two-gang switch and two groups of lighting fixtures from one power source. In this case, two wires from two output contacts of the switch and two phase conductors from lamps will come to the junction box. The same as in the example described above, only there will be one more twist in the box.

If you need to install a three-gang switch and three groups of lamps, respectively, three wires from the three output contacts of the switch and three phase conductors from the lighting devices will come to the junction box. In total, there will be 5 twists in the box:

• Zero supply network with zero conductors of the socket and lamp.
• Mains phase with phase conductors of the socket and switch.
• And three twists of phase wires extending from each switch key and a group of lamps.

In the case of protective grounding, one more twist will be added. Sometimes it can be quite problematic to lay twisted wires in a junction box. Now on the market for electrical goods, you can choose options specifically designed to accommodate a large number of wires and cables.

This is how it is easy to connect a socket and a switch from one junction box. The main thing is to try to understand this very simple scheme. And then all further electrical circuits will be clear to you. As a result, you will get a pretty decent cost savings on calling a professional electrician.