Canada - ON: does this wiring work?

krakatau · Jan 14, 2024

Hi,

New to the forum. I have two very specific questions, for the setup below.

Setup details:
Currently I have a setup with an outlet used for my home theater (TV plug), an attic plug used for exterior cameras controlled by a wall switch.
I am now adding pot lights, to be controlled by a new smart switch.

Below is a revised setup, to support the current gear, while switching to smart switches and supporting the addition of pot lights.

The smart plug at the bottom right is a plug in, ignore it.
New hardware: pot lights, the smart switches and the junction box.

Could you please advise if this wiring works and if it is regulations compliant?
(Note that the mains line consists of aluminum wires (ouch), so I'll use proper purple nuts. This makes it impossible to make the connection to the wall switches within the same gang, so I will have to replace that with a dual gang.)

I may have serious difficulties removing the old box used for the TV outlet, as the builders used two crazy large size nails to mount the box to the studs. Would it be possible to break the outside wall of the box and add another metallic box to it, to extend it? This would create a 2 gang box with sufficient space for me to wire the output to the switches. I've seen someone do that a while back, on Youtube, but I'm not sure if that's possible with an already installed box, let alone one installed 50 years ago...
Worst case, I'll find a way to remove the box and add a dual gang one.
I will have to use a cover that has a full cover on one side. I think that they exist - not sure.

[ElectriciansForums.net] Canada - ON: does this wiring work?

I would greatly appreciate some feedback at your earliest convenience as I am under the gun, with contractors about to finish flooring work after which the baseboard will be replaced and sealed.

Thank you kindly,
Jimmy

littlespark · Jan 14, 2024

Many of us wont know canada regs, so well be quite useless with that.

If i understand the issue, you've got a lack of available space within the back box for all the equipment you want.

I fully understand using smart devices for turning off the tv and the lights, but do you really need one on the cameras? Would it be better to have these powered all the time?

krakatau · Jan 14, 2024

littlespark said:
Many of us wont know canada regs, so well be quite useless with that.

If i understand the issue, you've got a lack of available space within the back box for all the equipment you want.

I fully understand using smart devices for turning off the tv and the lights, but do you really need one on the cameras? Would it be better to have these powered all the time?

Thanks for your reply. Outside of the regulations, I am also looking for a confirmation that the wiring that I am planning is correct.
I wouldn't want to redo anything, or worse.
As for the Canadian regulations, hopefully there is someone who could speak to it. I don't think there's anything wrong with what I'm doing, but I want to have a better reassurance.

As for the switch for the camera - since the cameras are in the attic, I am using that switch to reboot them, in case that any of them goes offline. It already turned out to be very useful a few times as the attic is virtually inaccessible (extremely low and impossible to reach, not without turning one room upside down) and the 2.4GHz spectrum is quite crowded in my area.

westward10 · Jan 14, 2024

I suspect your neutrals will need to be connected at the smart switches unless they operate neutral free.

krakatau · Jan 14, 2024

westward10 said:
I suspect your neutrals will need to be connected at the smart switches unless they operate neutral free.

Ah, sorry, that's a mistake (what's the graphical equivalent of a typo, lol).
Indeed. Neutrals will be connected to the smart switches for sure.
Thank you

krakatau · Jan 14, 2024

krakatau said:
Thanks for your reply. Outside of the regulations, I am also looking for a confirmation that the wiring that I am planning is correct.
I wouldn't want to redo anything, or worse.
As for the Canadian regulations, hopefully there is someone who could speak to it. I don't think there's anything wrong with what I'm doing, but I want to have a better reassurance.

As for the switch for the camera - since the cameras are in the attic, I am using that switch to reboot them, in case that any of them goes offline. It already turned out to be very useful a few times as the attic is virtually inaccessible (extremely low and impossible to reach, not without turning one room upside down) and the 2.4GHz spectrum is quite crowded in my area.