You're correct. Sounds like a short to power, but I can't think of why flipping the switch would turn the light off if that's the case.Chieftain, you go to any switch in your house (not a 3-way) and reverse the wires on the switch. It will still work!! A simple switch has no positive or negative. The screws aren't different colors are they. You can run hot straight to a light and put the switch in the return, or ground, or neutral wire and it completes the circuit when turned on. Or, you can run power to the switch first and then to the light or whatever fixture it goes to and you can still wire it either way and it still works. Don't you guys remember middle school science class where you learned about a simple circuit? The "switch" was a simple piece of metal that made contact to complete a circuit. That hasn't changed. Go ahead and change the wires at the switch. Those wires aren't positive and negative!! They are either the power going to the light and the current passes through the switch when on, or they are the negative or ground wires that complete the circuit to ground when turned on. Think about this just a little guys. A switch has not positive or negative unless the switch is a lighted switch that lights up when it's turned on. If that's the case, then yes, he may have the switch wired incorrectly. But simply changing the light fixture will never require changing the wires on the switch. Go ahead, change the wires on the switch. Still, current will pass through when on and not pass through when off.
Because the switch is wired wrongYou're correct. Sounds like a short to power, but I can't think of why flipping the switch would turn the light off if that's the case.
Can't wire a SPST switch wrong, which is what I was ASSuming. Switch CAN be installed reversed though, like @tpenfield said.Because the switch is wired wrong
Without having moved the switch, a SPDT with the wire on the wrong output sounds the most likely...I'm thinking it may be a SPDT switch and the wires are backwards. . . or the switch itself is upside down.
Wouldn't cause the behavior described if wired backwards regardless.If the new light is a LED then it could have a diode in it and having the wires right is essential.
try it. ive done it many times. thinking i was on the right wire. i had to learn the hard way tho. this is why both scott and i said to switch the wires at the switch. or when installed he didnt put the right wire from the switch to the light. and reversed the on off function. plain and simple . yes it happens.Wouldn't cause the behavior described if wired backwards regardless.
Nope. Not unless it was not a simple on/off SPST switch. The LED can have polarity that an incandescent doesn't, but it won't magically cause power to reach the light that otherwise wouldn't because of an open switch. If anything the light wouldn't work at all. Post a wiring diagram of how to miswire a SPST switch, or anything showing that the polarity of the switch matters. Or post a diagram that would result in the behavior OP describes.try it. ive done it many times. thinking i was on the right wire. i had to learn the hard way tho. this is why both scott and i said to switch the wires at the switch. or when installed he didnt put the right wire from the switch to the light. and reversed the on off function. plain and simple . yes it happens.
No? If the power is going through the switch out to the light it could be stopped by a diode. I have experienced this when installing LED lights in my model trains.Wouldn't cause the behavior described if wired backwards regardless.
No. it could be stopped by a diode if installed backwards (= no lights), but it couldn't magically apply power to the circuit if the switch was open. Lights wouldn't work at all.No? If the power is going through the switch out to the light it could be stopped by a diode. I have experienced this when installing LED lights in my model trains.
Those things can be tricky.