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    wierd's Avatar
    wierd Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Aug 8, 2010, 01:22 PM
    Which wires where??
    I decided to replace a light fixture with a bigger one, so I needed to move the junction box over a bit. Instead of taping the wires to identify which went where, I colored them with markers, but by the time I got things moved over, the colors had rubbed off. Crap! Now I have 3 each of white and black wires, and I'm not sure which wires should belong to each other. I know there were:
    - 3 wire nutted together
    - 2 nutted together along with one fixture wire
    - 1 (black, I think) nutted to the other fixture wire

    There is a light switch for the fixture and several plug-ins on that particular breaker, and I've identified my supply wire, but I'm at a loss as to which goes where. Any help someone can give me to get me on the right track would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!:rolleyes:
    donf's Avatar
    donf Posts: 5,679, Reputation: 582
    Printers & Electronics Expert
    		  
    #2

    Aug 8, 2010, 02:54 PM

    Not to panic!

    You need to do some cable identification.

    Find the Supply cable and isolate from the others. Find the switch cable and isolate that.

    Now, depending on the colors of the switch cable, connect the supply black to the white wire going to the switch. Wrap this white wire with black electrical tape to identify it as a hot conductor.

    Take the black conductor from the switch and attach it to the black on the light fixture.

    Now, connect the light's white to the ceiling white. And finally connect all ground wires together.

    Please let me know if this works. If it does not, please up-load a photo of the ceiling wiring and the switch wiring.

    If there are things that are still not working, and you have an extra black conductor or an extra black and white conductors, connect the extra black to the ceiling supply and the extra white to the ceiling white (Neutral)
    wierd's Avatar
    wierd Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #3

    Aug 8, 2010, 06:12 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by donf View Post
    Not to panic!

    You need to do some cable identification.

    Find the Supply cable and isolate from the others. Find the switch cable and isolate that.

    Now, depending on the colors of the switch cable, connect the supply black to the white wire going to the switch. Wrap this white wire with black electrical tape to identify it as a hot conductor.

    Take the black conductor from the switch and attach it to the black on the light fixture.

    Now, connect the light's white to the ceiling white. And finally connect all ground wires together.

    Please let me know if this works. If it does not, please up-load a photo of the ceiling wiring and the switch wiring.

    If there are things that are still not working, and you have an extra black conductor or an extra black and white conductors, connect the extra black to the ceiling supply and the extra white to the ceiling white (Neutral)

    Worked great, Donf! Thank-you! (now how do I rate your answer?)
    donf's Avatar
    donf Posts: 5,679, Reputation: 582
    Printers & Electronics Expert
    		  
    #4

    Aug 9, 2010, 09:03 AM

    Wierd,

    I have no idea how to rate an answer. All I ever use is the "Agree" box.
    Stratmando's Avatar
    Stratmando Posts: 11,188, Reputation: 508
    Uber Member
    		  
    #5

    Aug 9, 2010, 12:23 PM

    Click on Agree or Disagree, then a short note, then Submit.
    You can use one of Stratmando's posts for testing the Agree.
    Stratmando's Avatar
    Stratmando Posts: 11,188, Reputation: 508
    Uber Member
    		  
    #6

    Aug 10, 2010, 06:27 AM

    I had to try.
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