I have a strange wiring situation that I am having trouble figuring out. I have a 3 gang box with a single switch for the porch light, a 3 way switch for the hall light and a dimmer for the foyer light. I am trying to change out just the porch light.
The regular “dumb” switch had 1 wire that appeared to be connected to both the line and load and the neutral wire is wired to the neutral on the other switches and then to the neutral bundle in the box. The strange part is when I cut the wire that went to both the load and line, I have power at both.
You likely have one power wire coming in powering all three lights. Try flipping that breaker to confirm all three lights don’t work.
If this is the case, then you need to figure out which wire that is and which one is the load for your porch light. From there, you should be able to be able to hook things up.
If you need further help, please post pictures and I will try to help.
Just a little bit of information regarding National Electrical Code and a safety warning. Just because a wire is white doesn’t mean it is a neutral wire. Example you have a light and the feed is up at the light not at the switch, so the electrician will hook up the black hot wire in the ceiling box to the white wire going down to the switch and then the white wire from that two wire cable becomes the switch leg. So in the switch box the hot to the bottom of the switch is white and the black goest to the fixture black wire and the white wire from the fixture goes to the wire that feeds the ceiling box. Also PLEASE remember the white wire can potentially be more dangerous than the hot wire.
