house wiring help?

Question

Recently moved into an older house. In our bathroom there was just a regular light fixture with only a pull to turn it on and off. I decided to change out the light, and install an outlet (there were none in there) and a light switch for it.

The outlet is working fine, but the light has continuous power and the switch isn't working.

What i ended up doing was. House wire to the outlet, outlet to the switch and switch to the new light fixture. Is this correct? or did I do something wrong?

Answer 1

run the switch from the outlet, to the light..only two wires should be going and coming from the switch, to form a closed open circuit.

Answer 2

You're spooking me.
Reading you're note doesn't yeild confidence for future safe electic work.
However:
Lights and outlets needs at least 2 wires:
- White (nuetral wire)
- Black (hot wire)
The "switching" mechanism works by breaking the current of the Hot wire (black).
It appears you have put the switch on the white wire as it does nothing. If it were the Hot wire (black) there would be no electricity running to whatever it was connected to.
This makes the assumption that you have connected to the circuit in some manner.
There are a couple of troubling issues here:
- It can be difficult to tell which wire is Hot and which is Nuetral in old wiring.
- Shortcircuiting these old wires can overheat these wires creating a potential fire hazard.
- An outlet is generally wired with a heavier wire (#12) than what is likely offered by your light source (#14) -- causing an overload potential (another fire hazard)

Nonetheless, the switch is an extension of the Hot wire.
If the outlet is to be "ON" continously, it will have both a Hot wire and a Nuetral wire.attached appropiately.
If the light is to be switched on/off, then at the box (I hope it's in a box) the Neutral wire is wired directly to the light, the Hot wire is diverted - it is attached to the wire leading to the switch (actually 2 wires here). Here pretend this is one long wire(hot), leading to and back from the switch. Hook up the other end of this wire to the light. It is this extended Hot wire that controls the electircity with the switch.
Light box will then contain at least 5 wires:
Nuetral source leading to fixture -- white to white.
Hot source wired to extended wire with other part of this extended paired wire connecting to fixture. (Usually this extended wire has both white and black. The white wire is usually painted (or taped) black or red alerting that it is a hot wire.) Switch connected to other end of extended wire - also painted/taped.
If this makes no sense at all, you MUST get help with this installation.

Answer 3

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying at the end there. So, here goes. From the outlet, run your white wire to the light fixture. From the outlet, run your black wire to the switch. Now, run a separate wire from the switch to the fixture. Now, when you flip the switch, it will complete the circuit, just like you have at the outlet. It's simple and you don't need an electrician! Black is ALWAYS 'hot' - or is supposed to be! White is ALWAYS neutral.
Good Luck!

Answer 4

your path is right lets check each stop.

house wire black ,white and ground
run to the outlet. to keep it simple lets say that we are going to feed from the bottom. black from house on the bottom screw on left, black to switch box on top screw on left. white from house bottom right.white to switch box top screw left.

inside the switch box, black from outlet box on the bottom screw. black to the light fixture top screw. the two white wires left over need to be fastened together with a wire nut.

last stop the light fixture.connect white to white with a wire nut. connect black to black with a wire nut.

Finnish the job. at each stop the ground wires (copper without a colored jacket) need to be fastened together along with a third piece of wire of the same Gage about 6" long this makes three wires in one nut. (because the wires have already been cut you most likely dont have enough wire for a pass through nut) the free end of the third wire connects to the ground screw (green) of the device (outlet,switch,(on the top or bottom)) only the ground is to be fastened to This screw. at the light fixture there may either be a green wire or a bare copper wire. This wire is fastened to the single ground wire remaining in this box with a wire nut. in the absence of a ground wire on the device the ground should be fastened to the box if it is metal.

Answer 5

connect the whites.. run a short jumper from the hot side of the outlet(black) to the bottom screw of the switch. black wire from the light connects to top screw of switch.

Answer 6

wire nut the two nuetral together (white wire) the both black wires on switch screws. should work.

Answer 7

Turn on the light, then plug something in and turn it on. If you don't pop a fuse or trip the breaker (wichever), then you did it right.

Answer 8

hire a professional

Answer 9

Please get an electrician before you kill yourself or start an electrical fire.