Hello, I just installed 2 IC recessed lighting in our kitchen. One of the hole where I attached one of the recessed lights had 2 metallic flexible cables. 1 of which had 1 white, 1 red, 1 orange, and 1 green. The other cable had 1 white, 1 red, and 1 green. The recessed fixture has 3 wires: White, Black, & Copper. I attached all the wires from the cable to the recessed fixture accordingly; the green to the copper (grounding), the whites to the whites, and lastly, the red and orange to the black.

The second lighting space had more wires coming out of the metallic flexible cable. Each cable had 1 red, 1 orange, 1 green, and 1 white. Again, the fixture only had 3 wires: black, white, and copper. I attached all the wires from the cables to the fixture similar to how I did it for the first one, with of course the exception that now 2 reds and 2 oranges were attached to the fixture's only black wire.

Here comes my problem:
After finally installing the recessed lighting, I checked to see if it works. I went to the turn on the circuit breaker that corresponds to the lights in the kitchen. The recessed lights worked, but when I decided to turn on the circuit breaker (corresponds to the microwave) located below that kitchen lights circuit, the circuit blew and the lights went off. Now, I turned both circuit off and on again and the recessed lights work, but now the switch that used to control it no longer does. I turn the switch on and off and the recessed lights remain on. Also, every time I turn on the circuit for the microwave it continues to blow out the recessed lights.

I just don't know what's going on. Are the wirings correct?

Also, I was wondering if its possible that the bulb I used for the recessed lights may be too much that it caused an overload? I used a 100 watts halogen bulb for the recessed lights, we live in a small condo. Do I need to switch to a 65 watt bulb and maybe replace the light switch?? Please HELP! Thank you in advance.

I think you need to separate the reds and oranges. One may be a switched leg, the other a continuous hot.

Only the switched wire should connect to the black on the light fixture.

Thanks tkrussell.

So for the second hole; where there are 2 reds, 2 oranges,2 greens, and 2 whites, should I try and connect the 2 oranges to the fixture's black wire while connecting the 2 reds to each other? And if that doesn't work, I'll try and connect the 2 reds to the fixture's black wire, while the 2 oranges connect to each other.

How about for the first hole, where there 2 reds and 1 orange? How should I wire those? Should I just leave it how it was; the 2 reds and 1 orange connected to the fixture's black wire?

:confused:

Thanks again in advance.

No, do not have any reds or oranges connected together. You can try red to fixture, see if that is the switched leg, and again with the orange.

Best to use a voltage tester to test these wires.

I tried it, but it still doesn't work. Is it possible that I just need to get a new light switch? And buy a lower watt bulb?

Anything is possible. Without using a tester to test the purpose of the red and orange wires, we are only guessing.

So, you said don't connect oranges with each other and the same for the reds? Or don't connect any of the reds to the oranges?

So when I do get the voltage tester, what exactly am I looking for?

Which are hot, and if any are switched.

You should also see if these wires are on one circuit, or are they two separate circuits.

Okay. Thanks. So when, I do find out which wires are hot and which are switched? How then should I do the connection? Thanks again tkrussell, I really appreciate your help.

The wire that is switched will connect to the lights, so the switch control the lights.

I checked the wires out with a voltage tester and it seems that the white wire is the switched. The others were hot. So do I connect the white to the black wire on the fixture? If so, what do I do with the reds and organges? Thanks

Okay thanks for the help tkrussell. I finally got the switch and the lights to work. The probably was that the switch blew and all I had to do was replace it and get a 60 watt bulb instead of 120. Now, for some reason though, the switch also controls the microwave, so I probably have to figure which wire connects to the microwave. Thanks again for all your help.