i need help in trying to change a bedroom light fixture?

Question

there are 3 black and 3 white wires. i cannot get the light switch to work. i had to connect 3 black and 1 white to even get the light to come on. but cannot turn it off with switch. help

Answer 1

It sounds like you are trying to burn your house down. Playing mix and match with the wires. 3 blacks 3 whites, 3 black one white but the switch doesn't work. WTF? Invest in an electrician. That is the best help you can possibly get.

Answer 2

If the light fixture has 3 black and 3 white wires, twist all the blacks together and all the whites together so you have one group of blacks and one group of whites. The black wires are the hot leads and white is nutrual. Now in the box in the ceiling , with wall switch off tye the black wires on the lamp to the black wire in the ceiling box. do the same with the white wires. blacks to black, and whites to white. Turn on the wall switch, and if the fixture has a switch, turn it on. you light should come on, if not check your fuse box or breaker box. If it doesn't come on now you will have to replace the fixture switch, you shorted it out when you connected the white wire with the black wires. How a switch works. It has two wires one black and one white. The black wire being the hot wire, the switch opens and closes the circuit when you turn the switch off or on. The hot wire being black is opened as if cut into This is the only function of a switch

Answer 3

If you have 3 black wires and 3 white wires, you have three cables entering the box. One is coming from the main panel. It is carrying the power supply. One is coming from the wall switch. it is the "switch leg". One is taking the power on to the next location that is using it. You need to determine which cable goes where. If you don't know how to do this, it's time to call an electrician.

If you can ID the cables, twist the black wire from the cable that comes from the supply to the black wire that goes to the switch, and the black wire that goes on to the next fixture, and the black wire from the light fixture (4-wires total). Put on a "wire nut". Twist the white wire from the switch to the white wire from the light fixture. (2-wires total) Put on a wire nut. Twist the remaining two white wires together, and put on a wire nut. Tuen on the breaker and test.

There should also be three bare copper wires in the box. Twist those together, and if there is a green wire coming from the light fixture, add that one too. Wire nut.

Replace all covers. All done.

Answer 4

is there more than one switch for the light? No? Ok. One black wire is hot. since the light works with all three and the white. It will work with one of the black and that white. Remove one of the black wires, does the light work? no? Then that wire is the hot wire. Mark it and the white wire (so you know which they are, like tape).now one white and black pair go to a receptacle and one pair to the light switch.You must first find which wires go to the recepticle, plug a lamp into the recepticle that is working and turn it on. Connect one of the black wires to the hot, and connect one white wire to the white. If the lamp comes on, that is the recepticle wires. If the lamp doesn't come on, remove the white wire and attach the other white wire to the marked white wire. If the lamp doesn't come on, the black wire is part of the switch leg. Bend it out of the way. If the lamp comes on, then you have found the recepticle wires. The other two wires are the switch wires. Of the switch wires attach the white wire to the two black wires already together. Now you have two black wires and one white wire together. Fasten the black (light) wire to the single black wire and the white (light) wire to the two white wires.

Answer 5

This sounds like a fixture that is wired for 2 complete and separate lights. It should have 2 whites, 2 reds, and 2 blacks for ground.

Answer 6

did you take the old one off? if you did, then try to remember how it was, if not, then, get someone who knows what they are doing to look at it, before you catch something on fire or get shocked.