Taking your hot (load) from the protected side of the e-switch is probably good. If you have a fire break out inside and don’t want to suck fire into your exhaust fan, for instance.
Running only the wires you need will help avoid opportunities for mistaken connections creating short circuits
Tripping the circuit breaker would not have happened from this without a short circuit somewhere, which wasn’t part of the original design. It’s easy to make a mistake with a maze of twisty little wires, very similar.
No apologies needed…I really appreciate the help! I like the idea of an AC-DC converter replacing the resistor. OK on keeping the N and GND wires connected to the source AC. I like things consistent so I’m going to swap the AC wires to the power supply.
My outlet tester did indicate there was an open neutral so I added a connection back to the neutral of the outlet (dotted yellow line in the diagram below).
The AC/DC converter doesn’t have mounting holes so I hot-glued it to the back of the aluminum control plate. I don’t like that solution so I’m going to print a base as an insulator between the converter and the control panel. I’ll wire up the rest of the buttons, organize the wires in spiral wrap and I think I’ll be good to go.
This has been quite an experience and I’ve learned a great deal. Thanks to @mcdanlj and @cprezzi for all the help!
