I have been trying to replace a three bulb dome light fixture in my kitchen and it keeps shorting when I turn it on. The house wires are a little old but not frayed. There are no apparent bare wires. Even I as a novice can attach black to black and white to white, put on wire nuts, and push them back into the box (a plastic one not metal despite it's apparent age). The ground wires don't seem to be touching anything they are not supposed to.

I've taken it down and started from the beginning three times now. I'm baffled.

Any thoughts?

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Originally Posted by eirekp

I have been trying to replace a three bulb dome light fixture in my kitchen and it keeps shorting when I turn it on. The house wires are a little old but not frayed. There are no apparent bare wires. Even I as a novice can attach black to black and white to white, put on wire nuts, and push them back into the box (a plastic one not metal despite it's apparent age). The ground wires don't seem to be touching anything they are not supposed to.

I've taken it down and started from the beginning three times now. I'm baffled.

Any thoughts?

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Sorry when I signed on it said I hadn't posted anything and I didn't realize I had to look down the list a little for the active posts. Didn't mean to double post.

KP

Does the breaker trip with the new fixture not connected?

First, verify that the circuit breaker only blow when you flip the light switch on. If so, this isolates the fault the wiring between the switch and the fixture, or the fixture itself.

Second, as tkrussel suggests, try it with no fixture in place - but please be sure to cap both the white and black wires with wire nuts. This will let you know if the problem is the fixture or not.

Third, if it does seem to be a fault with the new fixture, try re-installing the old fixture and see it if works OK. This will prove conclusively that the fault is in the new fixture.