How to add a second switch for street side porch lights . . finally!

[Snackchaser]

This modification was a break-out from an old and long thread that Mossemi started: “Only one switch to operate streetwise and curbside lights . . .”   It concerned a common complaint that the curb side porch lights can’t always be used because the street side lights also come on and they can annoy the neighbors.   Mossey posted a new photo of the main switch panel wiring yesterday, and it showed a ground wire labeled “porch light”.”  I hadn’t noticed it before, so I tried my circuit signal probe again and finally found where the circuit crosses over to feed the street side porch lights.  It was in a sheathed wire bundle behind the attic side board, deep along the right bottom corner.  It can’t be reached through the attic without disturbing the insulation, but it can be reached through the right rear speaker hole.  The duct tape dust cover will have to cut open then re-taped afterwards.

The wire bundle has enough slack to splice it though the speaker hole.  I pulled the positive “red” wire out of the “split-sheath” wrap and verified it was the right one with a clamp-on amp meter.  It read something like 0.9 amps with the lights on.   I cut the wire, capped the end coming from the old switch, and spliced a new blue wire to the lights end.  A Wago connector was easier than trying to crimp a butt splice in the tight space.

The new wire was sheathed for extra protection and routed to the main switch panel.  It was tie-wrapped to an existing wire bundle on the forward edge of the attic ceiling.  With the left attic side board also removed (they are held by two small lag bolts), the wire can be passed into the left side upper cabinet.  A short stiff wire will help fish it through.

The upper cabinets have thin laminate floors fastened with a few Phillips screws.  Remove them to expose a channel that the new wire can lay in all the way to the main switch panel.  I also removed the microwave outlet for more room to feed the wire into the switch panel area; just snap off the cover plate, loosen the two mounting screws slightly so the wings fold in, and it will come right out.

I had a round rocker switch in my stash, and they are also available from Amazon.  I installed it in the blanked hole for the “Street Awning” switch, and blacked out the word Awning with a felt marker.  The switch just says “Street” now, for the street porch light.  Very unprofessional, but I hope someone will had a better solution.  If you don’t have a blanked spare switch hole, then a switch can be mounted on the other side of the switch panel, on the inside cabinet wall.

The switch was wired with the new blue wire going to the middle terminal, the red hot +12Vdc to the bottom, and the yellow ground to the top (needed for the blue neon indicator.)  The other ends of the hot and ground wires went to existing six-port push-in terminals that feed other switches.  There were some unused ports.

This is easier than it sounds, but it’s good to have a clamp-on amp meter and/or circuit tracer to help find the street porch light wire.   I included a photo and list of the tools I used.  The inexpensive brands work well enough, and I’d recommend owning them for other electrical projects, troubleshooting and repair work:   

• Digital clamp-on ac/dc amp meter, also a multimeter, can check your shunts and loads too!
• Circuit tracer for finding wires, shorts, and breaks
• Metal fish tape, I cut short pieces off the end for these kind of jobs
• Cable tie gun, you will wonder how you ever got by without one
• Auto wire stripper, just makes it easier
• Thomas and Betts crimpers, 50 years old and still my favorite go-to
• Inspection mirror
• Fluke multimeter, when accuracy counts

Cheers, Geoff

[mossemi]

@Snackchaser

Your persistence paid off handsomely.  Thank you for the documentation!

Mossey

[jd1923]

23 hours ago, Snackchaser said:

It was in a sheathed wire bundle behind the attic sideboard, deep along the right bottom corner.  It can’t be reached through the attic without disturbing the insulation, but it can be reached through the right rear speaker hole.

How in the world did you find that wire way back there? Geoff, you're my new hero! Love your older quality tools too. Best wishes, JD

[Steph and Dud B]

Nice work!