Where does the Neutral wire go on a light switch?

Im changing out a light fixture in my bedroom it has two hot wires a neutral and a ground. When I connect the two hot wires and the ground and cap off the neutral wire since there is no spot for them to go the power to the room does not work including all the outlets in the walls. If I connect the neutral wire with the ground wire on the green screw all the outlets work and the light works too. Can I connect the neutral to the ground? If I cant then where else would it go? Please help.
Where does the Neutral wire go on a light switch?
Just curious 鈥?you stated you were replacing the light 鈥y question is: when you removed the old fixture what was the neutral wire connected to?



Somewhere in the box should be neutral wire 鈥?. you may need to do some checking to see if it has broke off 鈥?



If you can鈥檛 find the neutral and if the ground wire is insulated {not a bare wire} it could be used safely 鈥?.although it is not acceptable practice 鈥?

If it鈥檚 just bare wire 鈥?do not use it for the return path
Where does the Neutral wire go on a light switch?
You can connect to neutral to the ground but it is not really a good idea. What happens if the light is not hooked up? What wires are in the box to start out with? The neutral goes to ground way back at the panel but when you start linking the neutral to the ground other than that it starts leading to some wierd issues. Are you saying that your light has two hots or the the romex coming into the box has two hots. Your box in the ceiling should have a piece of romex with a black, white and bare. That is the hot neutral and ground. If it has a red, black, white and neutral that probably means your switchbox has two switchlegs (hots) coming from it. I would have to know what is in the box to start out with.
when you are connecting that white wire to the green it is getting a path back to the earth path to make the outlets work!what did that switch operate before, the wall plug the white and green should not go together! more info??????
Hi Natalie,



I don't mean to be critical, but when the fire safety of your house, and possibly your life, or that of your family, is at stake, this situation becomes critical.



First, BEFORE removing the old light fixture, you SHOULD HAVE made a very careful diagram of what wires [colors] connected to which wires. And if you have a digital camera, SHOULD have taken a very close-up picture showing all the wires and their relationhip(s).



Your description suggests that a cable [containing 2 (or three) individually insulated (black hot, white neutral, and possibly a green insulated or bare Copper grounding conductor] conductors (wires) inside of an outer sheath] supplying power to the light fixture, ALSO %26quot;CONTINUES ON%26quot; out of the junction box for the fixture, and PROVIDES POWER to ALL THE RECEPTACLES in the room.



IF that is the case, it is VERY CRITICAL that all those conductors (wires) be PROPERLY reconnected.



It is important that you NOT use instructions from this site on how to do the job yourself, BUT MUST FIND SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT HE/SHE IS DOING TO HELP YOU IN PERSON, IN YOUR HOUSE.



Since the wiring color coding applications may have been shifted around by whoever originally put them in [if he/she/they didn't know what they were doing], it is necessary to be able to determine FOR CERTAIN what wires come from where and what wires go to where, thus allowing someone to calculate which wires should be connected to which inside the fixture and it's junction box.



Therefore, IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU NEED A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN TO ANALYZE THE CIRCUIT, AND THEN PROPERLY REWIRE THAT CIRCUIT!!!!!



Please, for the safety of all concerned, get a LIcensed Electrician to straighten out the hazardous mess you've created by being a layman, and starting the job out on the %26quot;wrong foot.%26quot;