Two Back Wires, Two White Wires, WTH?
craig rode
I had my house repainted and the painters removed all exterior lighting
fixtures and then replaced them when finished. However, one of them
isn't working properly. In fact, every time I turned it on using the
inside the house switch, the circuit breaker blew. Now, the painters
told me they'd come back and fix this, but I don't have a lot of faith
in them. Here's what I have. The outside box has four wires, two white
and two black. The fixture itself also has two white and two black. It
has two light bulbs in it which apparently for some reason each have
their own wiring. And I have no idea how to wire this thing. I tried
the two black wires on the fixture connected to the two black wires on
the box, all in one connection, and the same with the white, and when i
hit the switch I blew out the circuit. I took the fixture off, and
hooked the black to black and white to white temporarily, but as soon as
I turned on the switch it blew the circuit. None of the white wires has
any black on the end, which I think is required if the thing is wired so
the switch is after the light, if you know what I mean..
Anyway, I'm sure this isn't rocket science, so whomever of you out there
is at this point thinking "ah, well the solution is....." I'd sure
appreciate a note from you.
Thanks.
Craig
Daniel Hicks
>
> Greetings, smart people...
> I had my house repainted and the painters removed all exterior lighting
> fixtures and then replaced them when finished. However, one of them
> isn't working properly. In fact, every time I turned it on using the
> inside the house switch, the circuit breaker blew. Now, the painters
> told me they'd come back and fix this, but I don't have a lot of faith
> in them. Here's what I have. The outside box has four wires, two white
> and two black. The fixture itself also has two white and two black. It
> has two light bulbs in it which apparently for some reason each have
> their own wiring. And I have no idea how to wire this thing. I tried
> the two black wires on the fixture connected to the two black wires on
> the box, all in one connection, and the same with the white, and when i
> hit the switch I blew out the circuit. I took the fixture off, and
> hooked the black to black and white to white temporarily, but as soon as
> I turned on the switch it blew the circuit. None of the white wires has
> any black on the end, which I think is required if the thing is wired so
> the switch is after the light, if you know what I mean..
One of the two pairs of wires goes to the switch. You have to figure
out which one. Best thing to do is to disconnect all the wires, turn on
the breaker, then CAREFULLY use a neon tester to see which wire pair is
"hot". This is the one that ISN'T the switch.
Then TURN THE BREAKER OFF AGAIN, connect the BLACK wire from the pair
you found to be hot to the WHITE wire of the other pair (the pair that
goes to the switch) with a wire nut. Then connect the remaining black
and white wires to the fixture.
James K. Levie III
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
On 9/4/99, 6:58:38 PM, craig rode <cr...@goldengate.com> wrote regarding
Two Back Wires, Two White Wires, WTH?:
> Greetings, smart people...
> I had my house repainted and the painters removed all exterior
lighting
> fixtures and then replaced them when finished. However, one of them
> isn't working properly. In fact, every time I turned it on using the
> inside the house switch, the circuit breaker blew. Now, the painters
> told me they'd come back and fix this, but I don't have a lot of faith
> in them. Here's what I have. The outside box has four wires, two
white
> and two black. The fixture itself also has two white and two black.
It
> has two light bulbs in it which apparently for some reason each have
> their own wiring. And I have no idea how to wire this thing. I tried
> the two black wires on the fixture connected to the two black wires on
> the box, all in one connection, and the same with the white, and when
i
> hit the switch I blew out the circuit. I took the fixture off, and
> hooked the black to black and white to white temporarily, but as soon
as
> I turned on the switch it blew the circuit. None of the white wires
has
> any black on the end, which I think is required if the thing is wired
so
> the switch is after the light, if you know what I mean..
The most likey explanation is that one pair (a black and a white) is
the supply and the the other pair goes to the switch. It's not
difficult to figure out which is which with a VOM. Open the breaker
and check continuity between a white and each black until you see the
circuit open and close as you operate the switch. There should be only
one combination that behaves this way. Then, with that pair marked and
the bare ends all isolated close the breaker and check to make sure
that the other pair, and only that pair, shows line voltage. Turn the
breaker back off and...
If you don't see exactly this behaviour, call in an electrician and
let him figure it out. Otherwise, you can reconnect the fixture by
connecting the fixture's white wires to the white supply, the
fixture's black wires to the switch wire's white, and the supply's
black wire to the switch's black wire.
Earl Dean
What you have is a "switch" and a "hot" cable entering the outside light
box. Find out which cable is the "switch" and which is the "hot" by hooking
only one cable's black and white to the light fixture's black and white,
while insulating the ends of the other cable for safety. Turn on the
breaker and if the light comes on then that is the "hot" cable. Otherwise
it is the other cable that is the "hot" cable. Identify the "hot" cable by
taping or marking it somehow. You can verify by hooking up the other cable
and trying it also.
Next, connect the black wire from the "hot" cable to the white wire from the
"switch" cable. Then the white wire from "hot" cable to the white wires
from the fixture. And last the black wire from the "switch" cable to the
black wires from the fixture. Make sure all the grounds are connected,
button it up and it should work.
julierob...@gmail.com
Hawk
Any switch uses the two hot wires and the two neutrals are wired
together. Is that what you meant? Cause that's not what I read.
"\"Re...@home.com
box, where the "line in" hits the fixture first, then goes to the switch
(aka "California" wiring).
See the right hand diagram at
http://www.electrical101.com/switch-wiring-using-nm-cable.html
He should also mark the 2 whites with black tape, as shown.
Jim Joyce
wrote:
describing is not right.
Hawk
gfre...@aol.com
wrote:
wire is the hot to the switch and it is not a neutral.
micky
simplest case is make a drawing.
The drawing should include any wire, switch, or light that is shwoing,
visible, and it should make sense. Mark the colors of the wires on the
drawing and if there are two wires of the same color, you can use white
electric tape to tape them after first writing with indelible marker on
the tape which wire it is. then the next guy won't have to do as much
work as you have to do.
Clare Snyder
from the box to the switch. SHOULD have white of feed to the fixture,
black of feed to white of 2 wire to switch - marked with black tape,
black marker or black shrink tube both at the fixture and at the
switch, with the black from the switch connected to the black of the
fixture. So yes, you DO connect black to white - but you mark the
white. (the remarked white is NOT NEUTRAL)
Snag
and bringing my hots to the switch box . The only wiring in the attic is
the runs from the switches to the fixtures and a pair of 14/3's run from
one switch box to another for 2 fixtures that are switched in 2 locations .
--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crotchety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !
Clare Snyder
but makes the job easier when you install AND when you or someone else
needs to fix something.
Jim Joyce
micky
guy might also be you. And the drawing is meant to help, and will help,
THIS time, not next time.
thekma...@gmail.com
>I had my house repainted and the painters removed all exterior lighting
>fixtures and then replaced them when finished. However, one of them
___________
Wait- What?!
Painters? Removing ANYTHING electrical? That's your first problem right there!
Did you give them authority in the first place to remove those fixtures?
If the paint project involved the removal of anything electrical, besides a
TABLE LAMP, I would call in someone who actually understands your lights,
like an ELECTRICIAN.
If you experience a collapsed arch in one of your feet, do you go to your DENTIST?
As far as your outdoor lights go, what you describe sounds similar to the wiring for
a typical up & down stairs(two way) hall light. You have a hot wire there going to,
not a neutral wire, but a Common wire. Common and neutral are completely
different.
gfre...@aol.com
switching locations will make switch loops pretty rare in the future.
It was very common to use a ceiling light box as a junction box for
all the wiring going to that end of the house and where a multiwire
circuit was split out. The switch that controlled that light was
always on a loop. Typically the other hot side of that multiwire fed
another ceiling box in another room and that was where that feed got
split out. It saves wire but the down side was that a whole room went
dark when the breaker tripped. That was before all multiwire circuits
were required to be grouped in the panel and be on a handle tied
breaker so they might split some of the receptacles on a shared wall
to give you some power in the room if the other breaker tripped.
The far end of my house is wired that way. I did put the multiwire on
a 2 pole but I also pulled in another circuit.