I just took down a ceiling fan and am going to put up a overhead light fixture. It has 4 wires coming out of the ceiling box-1 ground wire, 1 white wire, and 2 black wires(1 with silver, one with copper wire). The light fixture has a ground wire and 2 other wires(without any color designation) which are only refered to as supply wires in the direction. Can someone please help me in making these connections?

labman

Some light fixtures give you a white wire that is connected to outside of the bulb socket. In other cases, they are both black. Connect one to the white wire. Connect the other to the 2 black wires if they were connected together before. Connect all the grounds and greens together and to the box.

How old is your house? About 40 years ago, they tried aluminum in residential wire and found out it wasn't a good idea. Try scraping the silver wire with a knife. If it is aluminum, it will be noticeably softer than copper. If it is tinned copper, you may be able to scrape down to the copper, sometimes not. Tinned copper isn't that common. I am not sure if you have to replace aluminum wiring, but it takes special connectors if not. Best post a question on the silver wire to our E&L forum, http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/forum/f...play.php?f=105 and let our master electrician give you an exacting answer. I pride myself on my DIY knowledge, and part of it knowing when to call in a pro. We have a number of excellent ones here.