wiring

[Unregistered-tomcraig07]

I’m installing a new light in bathroom and I removed the old utility box as well. Now I have 3 white wire , 3 black and 1 red. What is the red for and do I conect the 3 white together and the 3 black together with the red?

[Unregistered-lg]

watch what you do.too bad you didn’t look at it before you took it apart.the red could be part of a loop or part of a three way circuit one of the white whites could be part of a loop(people are too lazy to recode white wires that are actually hot)all i can say is watch what you do.

[Bruno1949]

EXACTLY how the old fixture was wired you will probably never guess right. Guessing wrong will, at the very least trip a breaker. At worst it could burn your house down.

By code the blacks and red are hot but the red might come from a 3-way switch or it might just be there because it was handy. The blacks could be anything from the main power to a switched power line. One of them could be a neutral too. The whites are supposed to be neutrals but at least one of them might not be. A hot white wire is SUPPOSED to be marked with black tape or a black mark, but it rarely happens.

I hate to say it but you are going to have to call an electrician. There is no way to guess at what the correct wiring is now. It’s going to take a meter and some time to trace each wire to find out where it comes from and what it does.

[Jasper]

* If you don’t know how to use a Volt/Ohm Meter… Call an Electrician.
* If you do then:
*1 Turn off Power to the wires.
*2 Measure resistance from white wires to copper wire, earth ground. THEY MUST be at zero ohms.
*3 If the white wires are at Zero Ohms, using a wire nut, tie the white wires together, including a jumper to the light fixture white wire.
*4. Measure the black wires to copper wire. Must be open (infinite resistance).
*5 If black wires are open then turn on power.
*6 Measure VOLTAGE from copper wire to each Black Wire. Keep track of which have voltage (120 volts).
*7 Flick the light switch on and off. Determine which Black wire responds to the switch. Connect that wire to the fixture black wire with a wire nut.
*8 The other black wires probably go to following outlets, unless they are also hot. In that case, you have another circuit that is passing through the junction box and has nothing to do with you light fixture.
*9 If you have another hot wire, turn off the circuit breakers until you find which conrols the other hot wire. Determine where that hot wire chould go.
* Good luck… Adios… Jasper..

Jasper Castillo

[Author]

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