[cpbmom]

My husband tried replacing a light fixture in our dining room today. It is a ceiling mount chandelier that we were replacing with a similar fixture. The wires on the fixture were not different colors like on ceiling fans he had replaced in the past. When he got all the wires connected and turned the switch on we heard a buzz sound and no light. He figured he had the wires crossed and attempted to switch them back, but still no light. He then thought he fried the switch and replaced it with a new one... still no light. What has he done to my dining room light? Are we going to need to call an electrician or is the problem a diy one? Help!

[cjcdallas]

Well,, Check the circuit breaker first... See if it tripped. If it did it will be half on half off... To reset it you need to turn it off all the way then turn it back on with the light switch off. If you try the light switch and it does the same thing (trips the breaker) then you have a wire crossed not backwards. What I would do is hook up the old fixture exactly like it was and see if everything works. If it does then you are back in business.
The process for hooking up the light should be fairly straight forward as long as you do not CROSS any wires. Usually when they are not color coded it is because there is no difference where they go. The swtich simply makes the circuit complete. Likely he crossed two wires and it popped the breaker... No big deal really.. Make sure you guys shut off the power first so you do not get shocked...
Good luck... Cjcdallas