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habsforever79 · Nov 8, 2011, 03:48 PM

I turned the breaker off to my sportsroom and then removed a ceiling fan disconnected wiring black\black, white\white, green\green and blue\blue (the blue wire from the ceiling box was attached to a red wire from the ceiling). The light switch was in the OFF position. The light fixture I am hooking up has 2 black wires and a green wire. I know that 2 green grounds go together and that I will put one of two fixture wires with a black and the other with the white from the ceiling, but what do I do with the red wire? I initially just capped it and did black\black and black\white, when I flipped the breaker back on the light came ON even though the switch is still OFF, meaning the switch was not controlling the fixture. Please help me fix this, I am unsure what to do with the red wire. Thanks,

Electrically Challenged.

ma0641 · Nov 9, 2011, 02:01 PM

Usually with a red wire there are 2 switches. How many do you have? It may also be wired as a switch loop. Use a tester to find what wire is the hot switched lead. I use a small light bulb tester. Pull the cover off the wall switch and see how the wires are connected. Is the wall switch a single pole or a 3 way?

habsforever79 · Nov 9, 2011, 02:16 PM

Thanks MA0641, There is only 1 switch in that room, I replaced it with a new single pole a month ago. The light had been working just fine with that switch. The red wire is marretted (capped) to the blue wire that was attached to the blue wire from the old ceiling fan. So assuming that I find out which wire is the hot switched lead, how do I incorporate that into my wiring? There is just one black, one white the green ground and the red coming from the ceiling. Will the red go together with the blacks or the whites?

Thanks.

ma0641 · Nov 10, 2011, 05:19 PM

It is hard to tell you where every wire goes since I/We haven't see the wiring. In most fan wiring, the black goes to the fan black and a red would go to the blue. However, with a single switch, they may have put 2 wires on the switch. Was there a red wire in the switch box? You may have inadvertently connected it to the hot lead and it isn't switched. Where exactly are you located? 2 blacks and no white and "marreted" HMMM. The simplest thing to do is to take the switch out and find the hot power lead. If you are on the continent, you have 240VAC, be careful. Put the hot lead on the bottom screw of the switch and then the red or blue on the other end of the switch. That will be a switched power lead, IF you do not have a switch loop. If you have a switch loop, your power probably comes into the ceiling box and then is "looped" through the switch. If there are only 2 wires in the switch box then you most likely have a switch loop. Can't help you much more until you find the hot lead and tell us where it is located.