[ryenerall]

[IMG]file:///C:\Users\ryeneral\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\ 01\clip_image002.jpg[/IMG]

I tried to attach a photo but not sure if it will show. I have a 14/3 romex wire that used to power my kitchen light, then continue on to power 2 outlets in my dinning room. I bought 6 recessed lights and went to install them. I took the black wire (constant hot) from the 14/3 and hooked it to a 14/2 black wire that I hooked to the outlets. I have the whites and ground hooked to white and ground from 14/3 to 14/2. Now that took care of powering the outlets. In order to get power to my lights. I hooked another 14/2 to where the 14/3 and 14/2 for the outlets met. I tied the 14/3 red wire (tied to the switch I want to use) to the light's 14/2 black wire. Then again the whites all tied together and the grounds all tied together. That powered the 1st light in the series fine.

Thinking that I was home free. I daisy chained the remainder of the recessed lights to the one that was working off the switch. I went black to black and white to white on all the rest of the chain. When I went to turn on the lights only the 1st light came on... Any ideas where I went wrong?

[ma0641]

Sounds like a switch loop with hot at the ceiling. In this case, one of the whites carries power and is not a neutral. Use a VOM to check wires at the first light when the light is on and then connect through them. Either that or you do not have the wires nutted tightly enough.

[donf]

Lets get back to the kitchen for a minute, please.

Is the light in the kitchen controlled from two switches or one switch?

If there is only one switch, then it is possible that the switch has a 3 wire feed/return and neutral (current code level). If that is true, then the switch is fed by the black wire and returns to the light on the red wire. Neutral is either capped off or used for a specialty switch because you are not allowed to use the ground conductor as a neutral.

[stanfortyman]

Also, you cannot have DR receptacle circuit mixed with lighting or on a 15A circuit.

[ryenerall]

[IMG]file:///C:\Users\ryeneral\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\ 01\clip_image002.jpg[/IMG]

I tried to attach a photo but not sure if it will show. I have a 14/3 romex wire that used to power my kitchen light, then continue on to power 2 outlets in my dinning room. I bought 6 recessed lights and went to install them. I took the black wire (constant hot) from the 14/3 and hooked it to a 14/2 black wire that I hooked to the outlets. I have the whites and ground hooked to white and ground from 14/3 to 14/2. Now that took care of powering the outlets. In order to get power to my lights. I hooked another 14/2 to where the 14/3 and 14/2 for the outlets met. I tied the 14/3 red wire (tied to the switch I want to use) to the light's 14/2 black wire. Then again the whites all tied together and the grounds all tied together. That powered the 1st light in the series fine.

Thinking that I was home free. I daisy chained the remainder of the recessed lights to the one that was working off the switch. I went black to black and white to white on all the rest of the chain. When I went to turn on the lights only the 1st light came on... Any ideas where I went wrong?

[ryenerall]

Hey Guys, first off thanks so much for your help. You've given me some things to think about. I'll double check my connections and use a volt meter to make sure only my black/red wires are hot.

My kitchen light only uses a single switch and does run on a 15A. If that changes anything. I'm not sure why that would prevent the 2nd-6th lights. It basically keeping the setup I had, but using a string of smaller lights rather than the single larger.

I don't think neutral is capped on the switch. Neutral was attached to the previous light that was hung in the kitchen. Would the easiest way I could double check that be to check the connection at switch?

[donf]

You need to look at the switch outlet on the wall. Current level of code requires (kind-a, maybe) that switch outlets either have a Neutral present or that Neutral can easily be installed if the need arises.

Snap switches do not use neutral, however, specialty switches as in motion sensors require the use of a neutral for a proper installation.

So if you look at the wiring on the kitchen wall switch and you see a Black and Red connection on the switch itself and White is just inside the box, then Black is the feed to the switch, Red is the return to the light. Neutral is unused and should be capped off.

You would then connect you feed to the next set of lights to the connection point of the source feed and the feed to the switch. Neutral or White would connect to all the other Neutrals.

[hfcarson]

As Stan pointed out, the dining room circuit should be a 20 ampere circuit which by code is one of the appliance circuits required for kitchen. This circuit is dedicated to receptacles in the kitchen and dining room and is now in violation with lighting outlets added to it. If the dining room receptacles are #12 AWG which they are required to be by code, then connecting #14 AWG wire to them is another violation....(See NEC 210.52(B)(1) and (2).)
Why not just do it right?