Connecting 2 electric lights with different fixture terminals to work off one switch.?

Question

One light fitting has 3 wire terminals BUT the other fitting has 4 i.e. a loop terminal. I have connected the incoming wires to a junction box and have connected both 3 core wires ( 1 for each light) to the outgoing junction box terminals.My problem is that the 3 wire terminal light works BUT I cannot figure out the correct arrangement of wires for the 4 terminal light.Any ideas?

Answer 1

It is very difficult to understand the nature of your problem. Part of the problem has to do with the terminology you are using.
There should be a junction box connected to each light fixture. Inside this box there may be several wires connected together. In order for a light to be controlled by a switch. the switch has to be supplied by a wire that is always "hot". The output of the switch has to go to one of the terminals on each of the lights. The other terminal on each of the lights has to be connected to a white common wire.
Other connections inside the junction boxes may be for the following purposes:
1. The black hot and white common wires may come into the junction box to be re-routed to the switch and/or to other outlets on the circuit.
2. There may be a connection that connects the switched hot wire to two other wires, one for each light fixture.
3. There may be a connection containing several white wires that supplies the common for each light fixture and/or any other outlet on the circuit.
As you can see, there can be several possibilities here. The reason for this is the electrician who originally wired the house probably was influenced by the location of all of the junction boxes and made decisions based on the shortest cable runs. Hopefully, if you understand the circuit you can determine what was done.
Please do not try to change anything unless you know what you are doing and always make certain the power is OFF.
When in doubt, CALL AN ELECTRICIAN !

Answer 2

Konswayla is right. In the absence of a wiring diagram, you may get fried. Best to buzz it out with an ohmmeter.

Answer 3

I like the way you made up words to fit your problem. I am an electrician and after reading your problem and explanation man I'm as confused as you. Hope you don't burn the house down, or up as the case may be.

Answer 4

If one has 4 wires attached to it now, it's already in series with other outlets/ fixtures.

Trial and error. Worse you'll do is trip the breaker.

Answer 5

I tried that once. My hair is curly now.