I had someone change out a ceiling light fixture. A couple of hours afterward, the lights in this room, as well as the room next to it went out; in fact, all the outlets quit too. I now have no power or lights in two rooms in my house. I've checked the circuit breakers twice. There doesn't seem to be a GIM switch to check. If I start over and unattach the ceiling light fixture and then reattach the ceiling light fixture, will that fix everything if the problem was with the installation of the light fixture? Or, was something fried? What shall I do?
Thank you for your help.
2006-12-30 18:50:42 · 4 answers · asked by lindakflowers 6 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Both responses are so helpful. I will check out your troubleshooting-suggestions.
2006-12-31 05:37:34 · update #1
Yes, I went through and manually reset all the breakers twice even though none looked like they were tripped.
The ceiling light is turned on by a switch near the entry door of the room.
2006-12-31 05:39:27 · update #2
Thank you. I'll have the repair re-checked.
2006-12-31 21:34:56 · update #3
if that ceiling light was the only thing that was changed it would be where i would start to look for the trouble. did you turn the breakers off then back on or just look to see if they looked tripped? i have seen them not fully trip before, when i check the circuit for a room i will manually turn it off then back on to be sure. if the person who changed the light fixture didn't keep track of the wires they could be wrong. if the light is controlled by a switch you need to know if the power goes to the switch first or the light with a runner to the switch. depending on how many wires and how the light and switch were wired you may need to do some testing to sort out which wires go where. if you have access to a multimeter and know how to use it you could try to figure it out. good luck and post again when you find out.
2006-12-30 19:18:31 · answer #1 · answered by car dude 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Is the fixture that was replaced controlled by a wall switch? or two switches? In residential wiring there are three wires in a circuit. In a residential house circuit the:
white insulated wires are neutral
black (or other color) insulated wires are hot.
bare copper (or green) are ground.
When wiring switches sometime electricians run a normal 3 wire strand (with 1 black, 1 white, and 1 ground wire)from a light fixture to a wall switch. The electricity is carried from the fixture to the switch with the black wire and then when the switch is turned on the WHITE wire is used to carry the electricity back to the fixture. In effect this white wire is HOT and not neutral. Quite often during rewiring projects this "hot" white wire is incorrectly connected with the other white (neutral) wires and can go unnoticed until the switch is turned on and pops the breaker.
You should have a qualified electrician (or a knowledgible friend) take a look at it.
good luck
Doug
2006-12-30 22:04:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like a wire "backed" out of a wire nut in the box which was worked on.
Re-check repair.
you could trouble shoot first by buying plug in circuit tester to see if you have an open neutral (white wire).
you must use care, you may have a hot wire loose in box, insulated gloves or some one who knows what they're doing
2006-12-31 07:32:38 · answer #3 · answered by mystk1111 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think your problem is a lose nuteral wire [white]probaly came lose from a wire nut
2006-12-31 10:53:02 · answer #4 · answered by ata31254 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋