I see the Neutral Wires Capped, what do I do?

I just bought my first four ZWave Switches and unscrewed one of my light switches. I see two black wires, a ground and a bundle of three white wires which i assume are neutral wires. they are capped with a red wire cap and appear to be unused. do I just remove one from the bundle and add it to the new ZWave switch or do all three need to remain connected together?
Also, which is the load and which is the line (of the two black wires)?
 

Sorry, Photo is probably too small to be of use.. let's try a bigger one...

Congrats and welcome to a new obsession.
 
I don't know for sure so I would consult an electrician before you do anything!
 
I would guess the electrician would connect the neutral on your switch (white wire) to those other white wires while keeping them all connected.  But i'm not an electrician so don't take my word for it...
I would also guess that the load is the single black wire because that would be your light, especially if it's a single light on that switch, and multiple switches on that circuit (group of black wires for line).  But i'm not an electrician so don't take my word for it...
 
Again, consult an electrician... especially if you are stuck at this part.

The neutrals stay connected. That's how they "work". The switch neutral should be added to them. Use a voltmeter to figure out which is line. Read up on household electricity a little bit online.

Logic dictates line would be the bundle of three blacks correct? since there is only one light (load) so that should be the single wire.
 
when you guys wire the neutrals like I have to, do you buy additional wire to patch into the bundle?

If the switch has a pigtail, you just attach that pigtail to the bundle and if necessary move up to a larger wire nut - otherwise you get some white wire and make a pigtail 4-6" long and add it to the bundle (and with it long enough to reach the switch out of the box still).
 
Yes - if you see multiple blacks bundled, that's most likely the line, and the solitary black is usually the load - if in doubt, remove the switch, turn the power back on, and carefully test with a meter.

Awesome, I got three new switches wired in and working. thanks everyone for your help.
I am about to start on the 4th switch now.

Ok, before you go further - and I'm not trying to be at all insulting here - either make a visit to the library or better yet go purchase a very basic book on wiring. Even the basic Otho or Reader's Digest books on home repair, if still published, would give you the "101" in this area. Spend 15 minutes in the HD or Lowes book section and you'll see several reasonable choices.

I'm a firm believer that before you do anything with wiring you should have a basic understanding of switch and receptacle wiring, what to look for, the function of each wire and color/label you are likely to encounter, etc. You can learn this in about an hour or less, and it can save you significant pain and problems.

It is relatively easy to install your own switches, receptacles, etc., but there are right and wrong (even if the device functions) ways to do it. A few minutes of education upfront can be very valuable!

The best way to learn is often through trial and error (he said, standing in a pile of ashes where his house used to be). :wacko:

Mad does bring up very valid points and the advice is sound. I'll just put a couple of pennies on his statements.
 
People make too many assumptions or get hung up on wire colors....the fact is there are only 2 that are going to be consistent, the neutral and the ground, otherwise they can change, or even in the case of a switchleg, if the electrician (or handyman) that ran the switchleg didn't reidentify the neutral....it's not going to make sense. The point being is unless you understand the basics and know enough to use a DMM to both verify the electrical is off prior to touching the electrical and then how to use it safely to verify voltage and operation, there can be no assumptions.
 
You do need to compare a best case scenario to your own home wiring to know what you're up against....a house built in the last 20-30 years with minimal modifications or DIY additions is going to be far easier for a novice to understand compared to many of the older wiring methods and practices.....(like all the various ways a 3 way switch can be physically wired) or a house that has had handymen modifying the wiring (or an armchair hobbyist, thanks to the PBS shows).
 
I'll just leave an anecdote for consideration. I used to deal with a parking garage and their gate operators, pay systems, etc. I had 120 and 240V installed, and thankfully marked with tape by an earlier maintenance electrician, but no lie, every conductor pulled in was blue THHN and some was only marked by tape at a junction point. That's the point I'm tossing out there by worrying about cable colors....you need to know what is connected to the cable on the other end as to what it really is.

As DEL eluded though, there's a lot to do with the age of the house and the environment you're working in... in a commercial setting as there are changes, TI's, etc over time - all sorts of things can happen... but if you're talking about a house built in the last 20 years in an area with very strict inspections, then your wiring is way more likely to be standardized... especially when you're looking at a place that has romex (in Chicago where everything is conduit it's easier to get different wire colors mixed in)... 
 
of course it's never safe to just make assumptions, but honestly you can tell which wiring was there when the house was built vs. added later (new work boxes, still have plaster on the romex) - and the advice given above was pretty safe - the bundle of black wires would've been like that because of how wires come into a box and get split off; the neutrals are all tied together in the back; the other black that wasn't part of the bundle would've been the fixture - these are all pretty safe bets as long as there's no reason that the house wiring has been tampered with and it's a recent enough build.
 
And it's definitely best to learn about wiring the right way - once you've worked with it a bit it'll all make a lot more sense...

Two thoughts:
1) buy yourself a voltage detector like this. They are useful for general safety, and...
2) ensuring that the neutral wire is not in use as a traveler, for instance in a multi-way circuit

A volt tick (the hyperlink) is a decent first item, however they are prone to falses, so while they are good for initially identifying a possible dangerous situation, the circuit(s) should still be checked with a known functioning meter before work starts.
 
While most users may not need a lockout-tagout for their purposes, a piece of tape or sign put on the breaker box while working on it helps if you have others in the house that may not know where your latest project is.....

Well said, gents. And definitely agree on having a good meter, and checking / double checking EACH wire before diving in. I'd say most of us have jumped into a multi gang box thinking we had the circuit off, only to find that more than one circuit was present inside the box. Nasty little shocks will teach you quickly, but you have to survive them to learn, so they're best avoided.

Joe

I was removing some 220v electirc baseboard heat from my house when we switched over to forced hot air- I found the breaker, shut it off, and went to remove the unit. Checked with my meter again, and one of the legs was still hot! Eventually tracked it down that the electrician had swapped half of two 220v runs by mistake, so that both breakers needed to be off. (each breaker had a black and a white, but not from the same run) Pretty sure it happened when we had the main panel replaced shortly after moving in, by a licensed electrician. So even the the pros can make mistakes.