General Electricians of TMMAC

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Sex Chicken

Sex Chicken

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Sep 8, 2015
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I know there are a few of you out there. I need help with a light fixture I'm trying to install.


Here is the light base. It is a two bulb fixture. Each bulb has a black and a white wire. I'm assuming I pair the white wires of each bulb together and pair the black wires together. Am I going to blow up my house?

Second question.



These are the two wires I thought I was supposed to connect the light to. They are red and white. However while I was pulling the wires out, the marette fell of the white wire and a lamp in the corner went out. Does this mean that another outlet is being run through these wires. I also see a two black wires twisted togetther and marretted inside the hole in the ceiling. What the hell does that thing do. I was expecting to find two options a white and a black. Instead I've got a red, a white (which is a couple wires wrapped together and marretted, and a black (another couple of wires wrapped together and marretted).

My wife is looking at me like I'm an idiot, and the longer it takes me to complete this simple chore the less and less she is viewing me as a viable sex option.
 
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SC MMA MD

SC MMA MD

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That is correct, pair the black wires and wirenut them to the black from the house, pair the whites and wire it them to the white from the house. The braided copper ground from the fixture goes to the grounding screw in the box along with the ground from the house.
 
Sex Chicken

Sex Chicken

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Sep 8, 2015
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SC MMA MD said:
That is correct, pair the black wires and wirenut them to the black from the house, pair the whites and wire it them to the white from the house. The braided copper ground from the fixture goes to the grounding screw in the box along with the ground from the house.
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Thanks but I think after you posted I added my second problem, what is this red wire for, and does it matter that there seems to allready be a light running off the white wire?
 
SC MMA MD

SC MMA MD

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Are there two switches that both operate that fixture (three way switch)?

Yes, the other fixture that went off is in the same circuit, and the circuit is still hot. Pull the fuse or flip the breaker for that circuit and confirm the wires are not electrified with a tester before you continue.
 
Sex Chicken

Sex Chicken

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SC MMA MD said:
Are there two switches that both operate that fixture (three way switch)?

Yes, the other fixture that went off is in the same circuit, and the circuit is still hot. Pull the fuse or flip the breaker for that circuit and confirm the wires are not electrified with a tester before you continue.
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I think just the one. I'm so ignorant I just turn the power off to the entire house before I start working. Should I just ignore that red wire and tuck it back up into the housing. Only deal with the white wires and the black wires?
 
L

Limpy

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I'm an 11 year journeyman electrician. First off you have the bracket for the fixture upside down. The green screw should be facing down. Wrap the copper ground around it and screw it tight leaving a good amount available to connect the fixture ground to it with a marrette. Connect the white to white, black to black. Make sure you tuck all of the wires up and inside the octagon box. Don't crush any of the wires.

You should be properly grounding the fixture to the bracket. This is a step missed by many electricians and I've seen houses catch fire due to skipping that step. If there is paint on the box where the bracket attaches that can create a barrier and if there is a fault in your fixture it can bypass the ground and catch fire.
 
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Limpy

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Sex Chicken said:
I think just the one. I'm so ignorant I just turn the power off to the entire house before I start working. Should I just ignore that red wire and tuck it back up into the housing. Only deal with the white wires and the black wires?
Click to expand...
The red commonly is for a fan. If your light can only be turned on from one switch then open up the switch and see if the switch is connected to only black wires. Make sure the red is capped off just in case.

If the red is part of the wiring then it could be numerous wiring types and you are fucked.

If the light turns on from multiple switches then it's a three way or four way. You are fucked.
 
SC MMA MD

SC MMA MD

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From what you have described, the black wires are bringing unswitched power further down the circuit. Connect the fixture white to box white, fixture black to box red. If you do black to black, the ceiling light will never turn off.
 
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Sex Chicken

Sex Chicken

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Looking the black is all coiled up tight back in the housing. It seems the last light was using the red and white wires. The previous owners of the house did a lot of the work themselves and they were clues less I don't know that the red would mean fan to them.
 
SC MMA MD

SC MMA MD

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Report back if red to black works properly. I have seen this before when someone wants to put an unswitched outlet/fixture downstream from a switched fixture. It works, but it is NOT the right way to do it. Finding this in a house would make me wonder what other sketchy stuff might be lurking in the wiring.
 
SongExotic2

SongExotic2

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Came here to fix all your problems. Saw picture. Scratched head.


Guess I know fuck all about home electronics.
 
sparkuri

sparkuri

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That will work for about one day.
The insulation on those wires have expired.
 
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