Home Improvement → Trying to install a timer, need help IDing some wires

Hi guys, i'm trying to install a switch timer and i need some help identifying the wires.

I'm supposed to connect the following:
1) black wire to live
2) blue wire to load
3) green wire to ground
4) white wire to neutral

cap the red wire because it's not a 3-way install.

So far i think i've identified the live, load and neutral, but i can't find the ground wire. What do i do if i can't find the ground wire?

The box should be grounded... Connect the green to a grounding screw in the box.

As an aside, there appears to be a shit-ton of wire in that box...

yeah i have to somehow fit the neutral wire into that cap.

Fiberglass box = no ground screw

There should be some bare wires back there somewhere; the green goes to those.

/M

That box is kind of a cluster-fuck. Shut off all the power to the box and dig way in the back. The wires with no insulation are ground.
It looks like the jackass painters sprayed everything.

FYI: The other switches should be grounded as well. Apparently they are not.

nunya, just a question, i know backstabs suck, but when using them isnt it "best practice" too t least screw the screws in so they arent sticking out?

Yeah, he should tighten those up when he fixes those backstab connections too.

The jackass builders of both my current and previous home sprayed everything and didn't connect any of the grounds for the on/off switches. At least the grounds and neutrals are present in every switch box so its fixable.

Seems like that's standard practice around here.

Sorry you're blaming the contractor/painter for not doing those things. The blame is 100% the electrician's fault. It's HIS job to connect the grounds (inspector's fault too) and make sure the boxes are ready for painting .... We always cover our own ass by taping/putting a wad of paper in the boxes. The painter is there to paint, not to do the electrician's job. It's also the fault of the general for not making them do their job.

there's just 1 "bare" ground wire, right? So i should get some extra wires and connect them all via a cap?

now im curious about all the other switches in the house.. maybe none of them are grounded. what are the risks of not grounding a switch?

There's 1 ground per cable. They'll all be twisted together and probably cut short so yes you'll need some wire to nut to them.

So I guess it's OK for the painter to paint countertops, windows, toilets, skylights, and anything else they feel like?
Painters are responsible for their own masking on ANY job. They don't get a free pass just for electrical.

These days though, it seems like all boxes get a protective coating of joint compound.

Tapers are another story all together. They also paint the entire floor, fireplace, garage door... and all large objects too I guess. It's every sub for himself, and if you don't protect your own and then your going to get screwed. Randomly bust open drywall to find outlets and switches and the tapers/hangers learn real quick to not cover stuff. I guess it's all how much PRIDE you take in your work to deliver a PROPER job. Countertop ... that's anew one, never seen cabinets go in before painting, must be a MO thing ......

Yup, because we all know houses only get painted when they are being built and it wears for 100's of years....

It all about common sense and liabilities. If they paint the toilet, in my book they bought it, common sense, no one else could have done it. I've seen many general contractors have one of their laborers tape windows, tubs .... The painters come in and paint ...

Disagree. Painters are responsible for masking finished and potentially damageable surfaces. You would not expect the painter to mask the concrete floor or the wood sub-flooring unless it were speced. If the electrician doesn't want the wires painted, the electrician should have covered them.

Good painters always tape off the boxes. Don't know what to tell you. That's just the way it is.
I'd rather pay painter rates to mask off a box than pay electrician rates to do it, but that's just me.

I deal with all trades as a facility manager. If some dipshit painter painted over everything they wouldn't be getting a paycheck until they fixed their mess. Ask the wanker who had over spray all over windows. Part of his life was consumed with a scraper blade cleaning the glass. If you paint over outlets or switches, the cost to replace is deducted from your payment. You are damaging other parts of the facility through negligence.

If my guys are painting, they are masking off everything. Fire strobes, horns, thermostats, electrical, etc. 30 minutes of prevention is far cheaper than hours of cleanup.

If you are a prime contractor, decide to ignore punch lists, I won't sign off on your performance bond until everything is 100% done. Painters fall under a GC's contract and bond. I held up a HVAC companies bond for 6 months for $5-6000 of work because they were trying to get out of doing the punch list work.

New construction is a different animal. I have never seen painters mask open electric boxes during my many years in the construction industry. I have seen conscientious electricians who care about the presentation of their work protect such boxes. Usually they just stuff a wad of something in to cover the wires.

Thanks for the help.

Ever hear of a remodel job??