Help With Wiring For Bath Lighting

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!
      

Greetings!

I'm hoping for some help, I bought a house recently where the laundry room light switch does not work. I found this in the ceiling box:



Two black wires capped off

One white wire capped off

Three white wires going to the fixture

Two black wires going to the fixture



I replaces the switch to rule that out and it still doesn't work.



There is one black and one white wire going to the switch.



Any ideas on how to wire it properly?



Thanks!
      

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?
      

I raised a shed and disconnected the wiring from the main building to the shed. Now it's a month later and it's time to hook the power back up. From the main building I have power into the shed with a white, black, red and copper wire. Originally the power went into the outside light fixture and then off of that it went to another light and two outlets. The original confiruation allowed of us to turn the shed's outside light on and off, from a switch inside the main building. With the power off to the light, we still had power to the outlets and internal light. The outside light fixture has black and white wires. The wire to the internal light and the outlets has a black, white, and copper wire. So how do I wire this so that the main building switch can control the outside light on the shed, while still having power to the internal light and outlets, regardless of the switch being on or off? (I wired the internal blacks and whites all together, which just ended up with the outside light always being on.)
      

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!!!
      

I am installing a ceiling fan for my mom and the wiring has me a little confused. I posted pictures below of the ceiling fan wiring and the light fixture wiring. Just need to know how to connect the two together without burning down the place. Thanks in advance






      

I have two 3-way switches in my master bath that have never worked properly. The house is very old and has been worked on over the years by many different people with greatly varying levels of skill. I was finally fed up with these switches and tried to fix them. I tried to follow instructions I found online, so with the power off I disconnected all the wires from both switches, then turned the power back on and used my volt-meter to discover which wire was hot. It turned out to the a red wire at switch #1. The other two wires are white and black (and yes, there also is a ground). I connected this hot wire to the darkest screw, connected the white and black to the other two screws and tried to test for continuity at the other switch. I couldn't get a reading on any of the wires at the other end. I tried turning the power back on and testing to see which wire was now hot at the second switch. It was the white wire, so I attached that to the darkest terminal, and attached the red and black to the other two terminals. The switches don't work any better than they did before I started - that is, both switches have to be turned on for the light to come on. What is my problem here? Thank you!
      

Hello. I'm a new home owner and DIY-er. I have 3 fluorescent lights  in my basement. I just replaced the fixtures' older ballasts with new  T8 ballasts in the first two lights and they work fine. I am having  trouble with the third light's wiring to the ceiling. I cut and removed  the old ballast without paying much attention because I was able to wire  the first two lights without any problem. I connected the new ballast  to the bulb sockets in the fixture, just like I did with the first two  lights. When I went to connect the ballast's black and white power lines  to the ceiling lines, I was thrown off by a red wire, which I guess is  connected to the light switch.  In addition, this light is connected to  the one of the other fluorescent lights and both are controlled by the  switch. I have attached  pictures of how I have it wired.



The way I have it wired now,  the other light turns on and works fine when the switch is flipped.  However, this light has the bulb flicker and then not turn on. If anyone  can tell what I'm doing wrong from looking at the pictures, I'd  appreciate any help! Thanks!
      

I am trying to install a SunSmart Digital Timer to my hall lightswitch (single pole). The timer has 5 wires: Black, White, Blue, Red, and Green. My switch box only has 3 wires: Black, White, and the bare ground wire. I connected the black to the black, white to white, and green to the bare ground. I have power to the timer but the light doesn't work. What should I do with the blue and red wires? Right now I have each capped off. Thanks.
      

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