I'm having difficulties installing an overhead light in a bedroom. There was no pre-existing light there, but there was a switch on the wall that controlled the bottom half of a receptical. The wiring coming into the switch box is a 12/2 (hot, ground, neutral) coming up from the bottom. The switch works fine. I ran a line from the switch box to the overhead light with the same 12/2 wire. I connected the existing hot to the bottom of the switch, the new hot to the top of the switch, the grounds together and then to the switch, and tied the neutrals together. I can test and see that the switch if operating in that in the off position, there is no power to the outgoing, new line. In the on position, there is power. I have also tested for power at the light and it's there when the switch is on. I have tried 3 different lights now, and none are working. At the light (2 sockets for bulbs), I have tied the two neutrals together and to the new line, the grounds together and to the box I installed, and the 2 hots together and to the new hot line I installed.


What am I overlooking? I have tried different bulbs too :-) I have even tried direct wiring the light to the existing line coming into the switch box, but to no avail... Frustrated...

What you have between the outlet and the switch is a switch leg. The white at the switch (coming from the outlet) is not a neutral, it is a hot. The white is used to take power from the outlet to the switch. The black is used to return power from the switch to the outlet. Therefore, you have no neutral at the switch.

Turn power off. Remove the outlet from the box.

At the outlet, you should find the white of the cable bringing power to the outlet box connected to the outlet. You should find the black of the cable bringing power to the outlet box connected to the white going to the switch. The black of the cable going to the switch will be connected to the outlet.

Assuming you want to do away with the switched outlet and have it hot all the time.

Rewire the outlet.

Connect the whites wires together and to the outlet. Connect the blacks together and to the outlet. You can either put one white wire under the each silver screw on the left side of the outlet and one black wire under each brass screw on the right side of the outlet or you can connect the wires together with a wire nut and add a pigtail to connect to the outlet.

At the switch, connect the white wires together with a wire nut. Connect the black wires to the switch.