Hi, i’m installing a light fixture(basic 1white and 1black), there are 2 cords coming out of the hole in the wall, each contains 1 black and 1 white wire + copper ground wire. I’ve tried connecting all 3 whites and all 3 blacks but this just trips the breaker. I have not connected the ground wires when trying this so may this be the problem?I am have alternated different combos of black and whites but the best i can achieve is to get the light to come on permanently w/o the switch working. Any suggestions?
Bathroom Sconce
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The feed must be at the fixture. There is a black and white wire that comes from the switch and a black and white wire that is the feed (live), the black is the hot. Get a tester, a couple of bucks at a hardware store. Touch any lead to the black wire and the other to ground. If this is the hot line, the tester light will come on. If it doesn’t, test the other pair. Take the white wire from the hot line and attach it to the silver screw on the fixture. Take the black wire from the hot line and wire nut it with the white wire from the switch line. Take the black wire from the switch line and attach it to the brass colored screw on the fixture. When attaching wires and wire nutting them together, make sure that the breaker is OFF!
Yeah, here is a suggestion, call an electrician before you fry your silly self! You clearly have no idea what you are doing!
One of the ‘cords’ coming from the wall is switched. The other is not and is on the other side of the line. I’m assuming you have 240v running into the dwelling. Tying those two blacks will definitely cause a dead short. Test to see which black is switched with the wall switch. Use a known ground to do the test(metal plumbing pipe). Tie the fixture wires to this ‘cord’. Be careful!
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You need to figure out which is the hot wire from the breaker (one of the blacks). The neutral for the circuit is the white wire in the same cable as the black above. The other black an white just go to the switch. One of the wires will connect to the black hot. The other wire coming back from the switch will be the "Hot" when the switch is on. Connect it to the lamb black wire. The lamp white wire goes to the circuit neutral with the incoming hot black from the circuit panel. Draw yourself a diagram if you need to. Tie all the grounds togheter and to the box if it is metal.
try using a multi meter to see if there is a voltge when you flip the swich
I suggest you find a friend or family that knows about electricity, it’s very simple, if you know what you are doing. You’re going to mess around and burn the house down! Good Luck!
It sounds like the wiring at the fixture is not labelled correctly. One of the two sets of wires coming out of the wall should be the power(hot) and neutral coming in from the breaker or other circuit and the other set probably goes to the switch…the white wire of that set should have been taped over with black tape to indicate it carries power to or from the switch. If you pull the switch out, I’ll bet one of the wires connected to the switch is white.
What you need to do is test which set of wires is actually carrying power at the wall opening with an electrical tester….they sell for around 5-10 bucks at hardware stores or home centers. Or just temporarily connect the light to one of the pairs of black/white wires coming out of the wall…with the power/breaker off…turn on the power and see if it lights up. If it lights up, that is the power feed from the breaker. The other pair of wires goes to the switch…one of the black wires gets hooked up to the black power feed wire coming in and you then use the white wire…tape the white end of it with black tape to indicate it will be carrying power…to connect to the black lead from the light. Take the switch out and put some black tape over the white wire to show it carries power for future reference.
Do you only have one cord with one white and one black connected in the box that the switch is in?
If so then one of the two cords in your light box is going to the switch and the other is going to the live circuit that you are connecting to.
1. Connect the black wire coming from the switch to the black wire on the light.
2. Connect white wire from the light to the white wire coming from the circuit cord.
3. Connect the black wire from the curcuit cord to the white wire going to the switch.