The previous owner of my home covered a box for a ceiling light operated by a wall switch. I want to have a light in the location. I put up the fixture and it lights, but will not turn off by the light switch, only when I flip the breaker. I changed the switch and the problem still exits and I am certain the new switch works. I have changed several lights in this house and I found the wiring in this particular box to be very different than the rest. The electricl box in the ceiling has a single black wire which I believe is the ground wire. It also has 3 individual white wires which are twisted together and 1 white and 3 individual black wires twisted together. This is how I found them when I took the cover off. What can I do to cause the switch to make the light go out? Are the wies twisted together wrong? Thank you.

Black is not ground, it should be your hot while whites are neutrals, green or bare is ground. You need to verify with a tester how your wiring is done, sounds like someone with no knowledge of electrical work has been "remodeling" that home. Go back at your panel and inspect it to see if the blacks are all hot at the panel and the whites are neutral, then test your wires in the ceiling. Clue; 1 white and 3 black twisted together tells me Curly, Moe and Larry wired your home.

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Originally Posted by TSA

The electricl box in the ceiling has a single black wire which I believe is the ground wire.

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Whoa! You really need to get the basics down before doing any more electrical work.

Black is NEVER ground.
You should connect the fixture white to the three whites, and the fixture black to the single black in the ceiling. Leave the other splice alone.
The ground will be bare or green, or the ground may be the conduit or cable sheath. If the fixture has a ground connect it to the metal fixture cross bar IF the box is metallic.