Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Dimmer Wiring, I am confused! Please help!

Hello all!

Please note I am a total newbie, I've not done anything like this before so please forgive me since I have no clue about all this stuff.

I am attempting to install a simple dimmer to replace a typical on/off light switch.

Currently there are two black wires going into the light switch. One black on the top and one on the bottom. Niether of the black wires are labeled.

The dimmer that I want to install also has two black wires and a green one.

How can I tell what wires go where? I tried searching these forums but came up with nothing. Is there somewhere that has this information posted?

Very confused...

Thanks in advanced.

SuperSpiker.

It does not make a difference which black wire connects to the black lead on the dimmer. The bare should go on the green ground screw on the frame of the dimmer.

Be sure the power is off before you hurt yourself or fry the dimmer.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'll try this out, I'm off to switch off the breaker.

Ok so,

I connected to two black wires but I dont see the bare wire to connect the green wire.

I powered it up and it works great. Do I need to connect the green (ground) wire or can I get away with leaving it disconnected?

If the box contains any bare or green wires, connect your dimmer's green wire to all of them.

Otherwise, if the box is metal, connect your dimmer's green wire to the box using an official green grounding screw.

Otherwise, leave your dimmer's green wire unconnected.

Thanks,

I got it installed and it's working great.

Thanks for the help!

SuperSpiker.