How to Do Common Electrical Repairs

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the layout.

   Every outlet box in your home will usually have at least 3 wires in it:
   A hot, a neutral and a ground.
   
   In the case of a switch that controls a ceiling fan or overhead light, for instance, will have a feed (3 wires) and an out (3 more wires going to the fan).
   
   The 2 neutrals (white in the US, generally blue elsewhere) will be wire-nutted together, and the 2 grounds (bare or green, sometimes stripped with yellow) will be wire-nutted together.
   
   The two remaining hots will attach to the switch itself (the feed hot on the bottom, and the out hot on the top).
2. 2

   Step 2: For outlets

   A regular two socket outlet will have 5 screws behind it.
   
   Two will be for the neutral (white), two will be for the hots (black) and one for the ground (green). , The hots will attach to the remaining two screws. , Simply follow the same rules described above for attaching the wires.
3. 3

   Step 3: all the wires will attach to the outlets.

4. 4

   Step 4: Attach the neutrals (white) to the two side screws that are on the same side as the ground (green) screw.

5. 5

   Step 5: If you come to an outlet box that only has three wires in it (not six)

6. 6

   Step 6: it means you've reached the end of the circuit.

Detailed Guide

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