I recently took down a light fixture that was just a singe bulb sticking out of the ceiling. When I did, there were 2 blacks and 2 whites and one ground coming out of the ceiling. My new fixture has 2 bulbs and 2 whites and 2 blacks. How would I go about hooking these up? I will also add that when we wired it incorrectly it caused another light that was on the same switch to stop functioning.

Can't tell with that information. You will have to remove the swtch and tell us what wires are there.

If at the switch there are two black wires connected to the switch and two white wires connected together with a wire nut, then you would connect the two black wires in the ceiling to the two black wires from the light. Connect the two white wires from the ceiling to the two whites from the light.

If there is only one black and one white wire at the switch you will have to determine which one of the black wires in the ceiling is hot (with a meter). Then connect the white wire in the other cable to the black wire that is hot. Then connect the two black wires from the light to the remaining black and the two white wires from the light to the remaining white.

So silly question: How was the old fixture wired?

Double check the light switch. It should have two black (or possibly two whites) connected to it; if this is so, simply connect all the blacks together and all of the whites. You said it was feeding another fixture so it makes sense that one set of black and white is feeding your replacement fixture, and the second is feeding the light further down the line.

But it could be a switch loop and 1 of the whites is hot but not marked.

I'm sorry I misread your question. I thought you said the other fixture did not work BECAUSE the first one was disconnected. In this case, you need to take the cover off the light switch controlling the fixtures, and look at the 2 brass screws on the switch, there should either be two black wires (or possibly two white), or a white and a black wire on either screw. Then the question will be easier to answer. Hope this helped.

Hi,

What we really need to know is whether the supply line is at the outlet in the ceiling where you are working.

First step, take a volt meter and place the red probe on the black lead of one of the cables. Place the black probe on the white wire.

Now, do you have voltage present?

Have someone turn the switch to the On position, do you have voltage now?

With the breaker off (and I do Mean the breaker OFF), have the switch in the off position and set the meter to Ohms. Turn the switch on. Does the meter react?

If not, then turn the switch off and move the probes back to the first cable and repeat the test.

Which ever cable causes the meter to react to the switch is the switch leg.

If power and the switch are present in the same cable, then power is fed from the switch to the light fixture.

If power is on one cable and the switch causes the meter to react on the other cable, then you have a switch loop.

If power is fed from the switch (power and switch reaction on the same cable), connect the black from that cable to all of the blacks. Connect white to white and bare to bare.

However, if you have a switch loop, (power in one cable and switch reaction in the other cable) connect the white from the switch to the black from the supply cable. Mark this white wire either black or red tape, paint or marker to signify it is a hot conductor. Connect the black from the switch to the blacks from the new light.

White from the power cable will go to white from the fixture and the bare wires will go together.

Since there is another fixture on the other side of the room I strongly suspect that that both the power and switch will be on the same cable. The second cable will be the feed to the other light in the room.

Please let us know what you find.