Just bought a foreclosed home where a lot of the lights were taken by the previous owner. I am trying to put a light over my kitchen table. I bought a light w/ the usual two wires plus ground, but the existing wiring from the previous/removed light has a black, white, ground, red and another single black coming out. There is only one switch on the wall for this light, and it is a dimmer. How do I wire this light to dim?

Switch Location may have a red and black and only 1 being used, I would use a meter or a bulb in a socket and see what does what with dimmer.
If you have no tester or indicator, connect white to white, then black to each of the others 1 by 1 and 1 should work with the dimmer, 1 may always be hot. Do not work on live lines unless you understand the shock hazzard and how to deal with it.
You may find an extra wire at the switch box not hooked up and capped off.

Look again, there should be two white wires. A wire is a wire, a cable is two or more wires in an outer covering. Sounds like you have a 3-wire cable and a 2-wire cable in the ceiling box.
Remove switch and tell us the number and what kind of cables you have there. Also tell us what wires are connected to the switch.

Hk, the extra black is odd, should also be an extra ground? Besides the white, if cable?

So I guess I was a little vague. Coming from the ceiling box there are four wire nuts and the ground. Wire nut #1 has three white wires, #2 has two red wires, #3 has two black wires and #4 has one black wire. The switch is a lutron dimmer with two black wires coming out of it, and a green ground attached to it. One of the blacks goes to another black and then up into some romex, and the other black goes into a butt connector with the black from the switch next to this one(which is for the recessed lights also on a dimmer), another black, and two reds.

So I guess I was a little vague. Coming from the ceiling box there are four wire nuts and the ground. Wire nut #1 has three white wires, #2 has two red wires, #3 has two black wires and #4 has one black wire. The switch is a lutron dimmer with two black wires coming out of it, and a green ground attached to it. One of the blacks goes to another black and then up into some romex, and the other black goes into a butt connector with the black from the switch next to this one(which is for the recessed lights also on a dimmer), another black, and two reds.

Agree Strat. I'm betting that OP is seeing two whites connected with wire nut and thinking it is one wire.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hkstroud

Agree Strat. I'm betting that OP is seeing two whites connected with wire nut and thinking it is one wire.

---

My apologies, new here and trying to figure out how to respond to you guys

So you have two 3-wire cables and a 2-wire cable in the ceiling box. You have a 2 gang switch box with a switch for this light and a switch for the recessed lights. I confused about how many cables are in the switch box.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hkstroud

So you have two 3-wire cables and a 2-wire cable in the ceiling box. You have a 2 gang switch box with a switch for the recessed lights. I confused about how many cables are in the switch box.

---

There are four romex cables coming into the switchbox on the wall. Two of them are red, white, black and ground, and the other two are black, white and ground.

I'm thinking.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hkstroud

I'm thinking.

---

w/ the switch off, the two spun together black wires and the three spun together red wired have 120 volts

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hkstroud

I'm thinking.

---

w/ the switch turned on and the dimmer all the way up, the two spun together black wires have 120 volts but no others

Are the two red connect to anything?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hkstroud

Are the two red connect to anything?

---

At the switch box, one of the blacks from one of the dimmers and one of the blacks from the other dimmer join together in a butt connector w/ a red from one romex, a red from another romex, and a black from another romex. At the box on the ceiling, the two reds come out spun together.

Having a little trouble accounting for all the cables in the switch box.
At the ceiling box with the switch off, test for voltage between the ground and the single black wire. Should not have any voltage. Then turn switch on and test again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hkstroud

Having a little trouble accounting for all the cables in the switch box.
At the ceiling box with the switch off, test for voltage between the ground and the single black wire. Should not have any voltage. Then turn switch on and test again.

---

No voltage either way

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctriverboat55

no voltage either way

---

Scratch that, it has voltage w/ switch on

So you have no voltage with the switch off but do have voltage with the switch on, correct?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hkstroud

So you have no voltage with the switch off but do have voltage with the switch on, correct?

---

Correct