Need help wiring new wifi switch

[hoki]

Theres two switches side by side in the same box by the entry door and the switch on the right switches on and off the porch light and the switch on the left will turn on the hallway lights and also works with another switch at the end of the hallway to turn on and off the same lights so that must be a two-way switch and the one for the porch light is just a regular one I guess and I want to change the porch light switch to a wifi enables paddle switch so I hooked it up the way I thought it would should go and something is wrong because whenever I turn off the hallway light the switch will turn on for the porch but if I turn on the hallway light the porch switch will turn off. The way it was wired before was the hallway light switch had two wires going in on top and the one wire on the side on the bottom was hooked up to it with the screw and it also ran to the porch light switch to the bottoms screw so I'm wondering what is that wire that runs to both switches in line with each other. Also I was reading something I'm about switches earlier that talked about joining two wires together and plugging in a pigtail from them is that something I would have to do here?

 

[buzzlightyear]

hi Hoki ,welcome to the forum it would be advisable to get a electrical
contractor with a licence in the good old USA .to help sort your electrical problem out .having you put in a WI FI switch.

 

[The Ghost]

Hello Hoki and welcome. You seem like a very charming person. However in electrical work we just cannot get by on charm alone. I ditto the above. You have wired the switch returns incorrectly and are punching above your weight it would seem. Please do not go any further with this project.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Can you send picture of what it was before and now?
It would help us solve this but in al honesty from your answer so far i would suggest calling an electrician out, shouldn't take too long to put right.
Edit
Just saw you are in good old US of A, in which case call a state or county approved electrician as some US states are known for being very strict on people doing things without the permit... Also would not want to give wrong advice. SO call an electrician as the others have said also.

 

[hoki]

I have been replacing light switches ever since I was little but these WiFi switches seem a little more complicated I think the main complication is a fact that it's not a standalone switch like I'm used to there's a two-way switch right next to it and some weird wire that connects both the switches together is that the live? Maybe the Live Wire is as bridged between the two?

 

[hoki]

I have to take a picture tonight because I'm not there I'm at work right now but I actually just put it back the way it was before already because I couldn't figure out so I thought I just put it back so at least it works until I can figure out the wiring so there's these set of wires that are behind the switches with a screw on nut cap connecting them together and one is like two or three white wires and the other is a black and a red wire I think and they're not connected to anything just Twisted together and I need to be able to connect the wifi switch to a neutral so with the neutral be the wires that are all white connected together or the wire that is red and black connected together? Before I had the neutral connected to the red and black one and that was when it was having that issue when I would flick the switch for the hallway light the Porsche light switch would not work but I if I turn the switch the other way the porch light would work I wonder if that was because it was connected to that red and black wire? For the neutral

 

[buzzlightyear]

I would not like to give you a bad information and make it worse then it is. it is not like we are around the corner .
please get professional help to get it sorted out .

 

[hoki]

here in the US it's not necessary to call an electrician if you can do it yourself. I turn off the main power before I work on it anyway so I'm not gonna get hurt. I just want some ideas please.

 

[DavidSpark]

If you can post a picture of your existing switch set up and the new switch when possible, people will be able to advise further.

 

[hoki]

since i'm not home til late tonight i'll try to give you a mental picture of it. The 2 way hallway light switch has two wires going in the top 2 holes in the back, one is a red one on the left and a black one on the right then there is a black wire that connects to the bottom wide screwy thing that also connects to the regualar porch light switch on the bottom screwy thing on the side so it's like bridging the two switches together and at the top of the porch light switch is one black wire plugged in the back hole and behind the two switches in the box there is like 3 white wires capped together and a red wire and a black wire capped together. So for the wifi switch I need to connect the L and the OUT and a Neutral.

 

[buzzlightyear]

If you can post a picture of your existing switch set up and the new switch when possible, people will be able to advise further.

is ok he will wait up for you till you get home .

 

[buzzlightyear]

I have been replacing light switches ever since I was little

The 2 way hallway light switch has two wires going in the top 2 holes in the back, one is a red one on the left and a black one on the right then there is a black wire that connects to the bottom wide screwy thing that also connects to the regualar porch light switch on the bottom screwy thing on the side so it's like bridging the two switches together and at the top of the porch light switch

hoki you might be biting of more then you can shewing .

 

[buzzlightyear]

I have been replacing light switches ever since I was little

The 2 way hallway light switch has two wires going in the top 2 holes in the back, one is a red one on the left and a black one on the right then there is a black wire that connects to the bottom wide screwy thing that also connects to the regualar porch light switch on the bottom screwy thing on the side so it's like bridging the two switches together and at the top of the porch light switch

hoki you might be biting more then you can shew .

 

[hoki]

it's not rocket science people, just some wires and since i didn't do the wiring myself and don't have proper testing equipment I donno wut wire goes where and what is the live wire and all that so I was wondering if someone experienced could tell me what they think the live wire is and where I should connect the neutral to and all that. I'm taking off the regualar porch switch that has one black on top and the other black thats also connect to the 2way switch off so I gotta plug those into the new switch somewhere right?

 

[Bob Geldoff1234]

My guess is that you don't have a neutral at the switch.If that's the case then you won't be able connect it up yourself.You would need an electrician to run a new cable in down to the switch.

 

[buzzlightyear]

America wiring colours .

 

[GeorgeCooke]

In the US white is neutral, black is live, red is usually the other phase live. Don't what colour is used for a switched wire.

 

[buzzlightyear]

Electrical wiring - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring

 

[hoki]

so the 3 white wires that are capped together in the back is what I need to connect the neutral from the wifi switch to then? before I had it connected to the red/back wires in the back, could that be why it was turning off when the 2way switch would turn on?

 

[123]

Do electrical forums not exist in the US?