Installing Lampholders...

I can't seem to figure out what I need to get my exterior light fixtures up.  I have vinyl siding and the framing is exposed on the inside of the garage.  If I use  a J-block, should it have the built in box or can I use a plain face j-block with a round ceiling fixture box to mount the fixture to???
      

I have an outdoor light fixture that I am trying to replace.  The house was built ten years ago.



When I removed the original lamp, I noticed one of the two leads was wired to the ground, and one was wired to the black wire, which is hot per my current sensor.  There are three wires in the box - black, ground (bare copper), and white or neutral, all from a single romex cable.  Unfortunately, I do not recall where the white was when I removed the original. 



I wired the new lamp per the instructions, something I have done many times before - black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Nothing.  The lamp and bulbs are brand new, and I have tried four separate bulbs.  I checked the black and neutral with my current sensor and with the switch on and the lamp installed this way, both show as hot. With the lamp not installed, the switch on, and the wires disconnected only the black shows as hot.  The switch is single pole, and appears to be wired correctly with a black to each screw on one side and a copper ground on the other.



Assuming the new fixture was bad, I reinstalled the old fixture correctly -  black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Still nothing. No light, and I confirmed the bulb is good by putting it in another lamp.   The only way to get it to light is to connect the neutral in the lamp to the bare copper ground.



I capped the wires, turned the circuit back on, and identified all the outlets, switches and fixtures on the same circuit.  I opened every one of them up (four lights and eight outlets) and found three (one switch and two fixtures in another room) where multiple commons connect.  All were properly connected.  My outlet tester shows all outlets as "correct".  I found no instances of grounds connected to commons or vice-versa.



Any ideas?  Is it proper to wire this thing the way I found it?



Thanks for any and all advice!
      

Hello,



I am replacing a bath light and I am a bit confused by the wiring. I can reattach the wires with the new fixture exactly like the old fixuture was attached but the old fixture did not have a ground connection.



Here is how the wires a



Two whites connected to each other but not to the fixture.

One white and one bare copper wire (I thought it was the ground) connected together and to the white wire of the ligh fixture

one black wire connected to the black wire of the light fixture



How to I connect the the fixture green wire in this configuration?



Thanks
      

4 gang switch box. power into this box. All wire is 12 Guage.



Neutrals and hots are easy to nut together, 5 at most in 1 nut.



But what about the ground wires? There will be 9 total ends that need to be connected, 9 seems like alot under 1 wire nut.....or is it? lol



Can i make up 2 sets of grounds and use a jumper between the 2 wire nuts?



Do they make a wire nut for 6 wires?
      

Hi All,



Need to replace an old faulty two switch fixture in the bathroom (light and exhaust fan). Right now, each switch on the single fixture separately operates either the light or the fan, regardless of the position of the other switch. Want to keep things that way. 



Here is a picture of the old fixture's wiring: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1179096/photo1.jpg



To replace this fixture, I bought to the Leviton 5634 (design diagram he  http://communities.leviton.com/servl...224%205634.pdf)



Unfortunately, what is confusing me is the the different designs between the two fixtures and the fact that the original unit seems to have some kind of patch or cross over type wire connecting the top and the bottom switches (see photo link above).



Any help/advice on how to wire this new fixture based on the picture of the current wiring configuration would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!
      

Hello,



I currently have one light switch which operates an outlet in one of my bedrooms.  I want to add a ceiling fan that has independent switches for the fan and light - but I want to make sure i'm wiring it correctly and safely.



Current (First Pic)- Live hot feeds into bottom of switch (bottom insert hole) and the all of the bedroom outlets (pig-tailed) tie into the bottom of the switch on the screw.  Coming out of the top of the switch is one hot which feeds to a single outlet.  All of the neutral and grounds are tied together.



New Plan (Second Pic)- Remove the constant outlet hot from the screw, add a new hot wire to the top of new switch and run a wire up to the attic for fan.  Add another hot wire from the bottom of that switch to the third switch and run another wire up to the attic for the lights.  Re-connect the constant outlet wire to the screw of the last switch.  Connect all the neutrals and all of the grounds together.



At the top of the ceiling, connect the neutrals and grounds together with the fans neutral and ground.  Connect the fan hot to the fan switch hot, and the fan light hot to the light switch hot.
      

I'm planning to use some round, 20 cu. in. ceiling mount boxes for lighting in my garage.  I want to run 12-2 into the box and then branch out out to two other seperate light boxes. 

Can I have 6 12 awg conductors and 3 12 awg grounds in a 20 cu. in. one box?
      

We had a pipe disconnect above the downstairs bathroom and the ceiling just about came down, so I decided since it was a hedious looking space, that it was a sign from the gods: Reno time!



Im now at the wiring stage. Originally there was a junction box with a light fixture out one side and a single pole switch(no ground screw...grnd wire attached to the box)on  the other. Typical set up: white from switch marked "hot" or "black" at both ends, and spliced with the incoming power's black wire. Then remaining blacks are spliced together as are the remaining whites... grounded accordingly.



What Im trying to do now is add a GFCI receptical to the mix. But Im having some trouble figuring it all out. NOTE: light fixture is not installed yet, just the wire for it with the ends capped off with a wire nut on each of the wires (Wht/Black/Grnd)



First, whats in the walls: Circuits on a 15 AMP fuse with older (but not the oldest) 12/2 wire with a blue weaved fiber outside cover. Still looks to be in great shape. I've continued using newer, yellow (Lomex or Romex?) 12/2 from homedepot as I've read that you should not mix 14 and 12 together.

All that is on the cicuit is 3 pot lights with 65w bulbs, single bulb on the stairway and what ever goes in the bathroom, so from my math, there should be plenty of room left on the circuit.



What I've tried so far:

A: I spliced the "hot"/"black" white wire from the switch to the incoming power's black, like before. Then I spliced all remaining blacks together with a wire nut, then the same with all remaining whites and then all grounds (did not attach any grnd wire to the Junction box).



Result, Nothing. After switching on the power, I tested the GFCI with a voltage tester as well as the switch and got no read.



B: Undid everything, re-spliced all like to like: all blck together, all white together..etc.



Result: Fuse trips.



Im no electrician, which I imagine is blatantly obvious from the above post, but I am following a Homedepot wiring manual, its just that what Im trying to do is not really addressed in the book... at least not directly. So I've been trying to figure it out by reading every single page, but Im still at a loss.



I've attached a very basic diagram of what is there right now. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

John
      

I have been wanting to add some soffit lighting for a while now.  After researching, I see many companies in Canada offering LED soffit fixtures; they are all fairly pricey ($90+/fixture), however.  These lights seem much brighter than anything I have seen offered in the states.  I really would rather go toward this approach rather than incandescents.  I've attached a couple of pictures of the look I want (LEDs are pictured).  Please suggest away! Thanks.







An example of a company offering these: http://sgilighting.ca
      

When hanging a sconce can I connect the two ground wires together (fixture and wall)

or do I need to connect them both to the green mounted screw on back of the light fixture?