The new light comes with a 120v power cord. When I cut the power cord I will have 3 wires showing but have only 2 wires showing from the ceiling. I know white to white & black to black but what to do about the 3rd wire?
Thanks.
2007-01-03 06:52:38 · 12 answers · asked by crackededge2003 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The third wire is a just a ground. You don't even need it. The white wire is hooked to the same ground bar in your electrical panel
2007-01-03 06:55:37 · answer #1 · answered by niceguy_thats_me2000 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
that's your ground, so why didn't you buy a hard wired fluorescent replacement? or why not install an outlet in the ceiling box? do you know what type of jacket the wiring in the ceiling has? if it is bx (metal jacketed, flexible) the jacket will act as a ground, so long as it runs all the way back to your fuse panel. if the wiring in the ceiling has a vinyl jacket (romex), it has a third wire in most cases, and the ground wire should be attached to a screw inside of the box. you can attach a wire to that wire, reconnect the new wire to the screw and then run that wire to the new light fixture. if you have two individual wires that run to the ceiling box (knob and tube), there is no ground and the light might not work as you would like. without a ground some shop lights will always flicker like they are cold starting. hope this helps shed some light on the subject for you, good luck.
2007-01-03 07:24:49 · answer #2 · answered by car dude 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Installing Fluorescent Lights In Garage
2016-10-14 23:03:42 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the third wire is the ground wire. You can either cut it off or cover it with electric tape,the reason you don't need this wire is because the circuit is already grounded at the switch or the outlet,you would need the third wire if you were making a new installation in order to ground it,but since you are only replacing it with a fluorescent one you don't need it.Make sure you cut off the power at the power box before you start any work,be very careful with electricity
2007-01-03 07:14:02 · answer #4 · answered by la parca 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would be nice if there was a third wire (green or bare copper) from the ceiling for ground but if there is not you could just screw it to the light fixture. Ideally it should be connected to the ground grid though. Take another look, the third wire may be bare copper. If it is then connect that green wire to the bare copper wire. Then black-to-black and white-to-white as you said. Make sure the breaker is off first!
2007-01-03 07:00:43 · answer #5 · answered by AK 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The third wire is the ground. Your box in the ceiling should have the third wire or be metal and grounded to the ground wire. Use that if you can.
Make sure you get cold weather bulbs for your light if you are in an area where it gets below 40ºf
2007-01-03 08:30:56 · answer #6 · answered by united9198 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The third is the ground wire, and should be attached to the casing of the light.
2007-01-03 06:56:10 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the third one should be green,it`s a ground wire you could screw it into the fixture or screw it into the metal bracket in the ceiling
2007-01-03 06:56:05 · answer #8 · answered by lily 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will need to install a ground wire, if you don't know how, you will need to get an electrician.
2007-01-03 06:54:59 · answer #9 · answered by Monkeyman 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the security answer makes sense but in NY i saw many of the offices keep their lights on every night and over the whole weekend thats a waste
2016-05-22 23:18:07 · answer #10 · answered by Delilah 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋