Dimmer switch single pole, no lights

[Gta_g20]

Hi guys. Sorry for the sad post but I thought this was a simple plug and play...


So I have two light switches in my basement living room controlling one light fixture each independently. They are pot lights and too bright so I decided to buy replacement dimmers for both.
Again each switch is the only switch to control that single respective light.

Both original switches are single pole Leviton basic switches. I removed one switch it has 3 wires. All wires are black.

Wire a/ connects at the top screw.

Wire b/ connects at the bottom screw

Wire c/ connects at the bottom and quick connects into the back of the switch

There are several white wires in the box connected by a marette wire cap.
The issue I am having is my new dimmer switch has a green wire which I assume connects to wire A. Then two black wires which I connected one to wire B and the other to wire C.
When wired in this configuration. All electrical outlets/ sockets have no power when dimmer switch is off. When dimmer is turned on the sockets receive power, but the pot light fixture has no power.
If I connect wire B and C together the outlets/ sockets begin to work but the light fixture is still off.
I’m beyond puzzled it’s probably simple but I can’t wrap my head around it

 

[James]

first step, put the switches back EXACTLY as they were originally and check everything works ok.

then post some pictures

 

[Gta_g20]

Back to original configuration and light is functional
[automerge]1578958170[/automerge]
This is what I’m installing

 

[Lucien Nunes]

The two blacks B & C at the bottom of the original switch were connected together by the switch terminal. They are the incoming hot feed and the outgoing hot to the next point. These would now need to be connected together in a wirenut, along with one of the blacks from the dimmer. The black wire A from the top of the original switch is the switched hot to this light, which would connect to the other black from the dimmer in a second wirenut.

If the 3rd wire from the dimmer is actually green it is likely the ground for its metal bracket. Check this in the instruction book. It would connect to the ground terminal in the box. Connecting it to the hots, as in one of your pics, could have given you a nasty shock!

 

[Gta_g20]

Thanks Lucien, I will try this repair now

 

[Gta_g20]

That worked. I’m just puzzled. How did the previous light switch get grounded?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

The dimmer has a ground wire because it can produce an amount of ground leakage due to its circuitry. This does not apply to the switch therefore the bracket is grounded to the box only via the fixing screws.