Trying to wire a new ceiling light fixture.?

Question

Have a 1960's built house with old wiring, the fixture out of the box does not match the wires coming from the ceiling. How do I match them correctly. Have already curled my hair twice trying. Ideas?

Answer 1

In what way does it not match? There should be at least a black wire and a white wire in the box from the previous light. With luck there also should be a bare ground wire in there. The new fixture must have the equivalent.

I assume you have turned off the power while working (as most non-suicidal electricians do). If so and you make sure no wires are uncovered when you are done you should have no shock hazard there.

Answer 2

How do they not match?
House wiring is as follows when done properly.
Black is Hot...connect it last and protect it until then.
White is common and should not be hot but occasionally you get "feedback" from another improperly wired device or fixture on a circuit. I have been surprised by the white wire before.
Bare or green is ground. Ultimately this wire and the white wire connect to the same place in the breaker box.

Many fixtures from other countries have color combinations that are not as simple as the black, white and green thing but the white and green are pretty standard. The fixture may have a red or blue in place of the black. Never put the bulbs in until after everything is connected and in place since the bulbs can complete a circuit.
Also beware of the wiring in the house. Switches are designed to "interrupt" power and should do this to the hot side of the circuit but I have seen the switch interrupt the common instead leaving the hot wire hot all the time. This too can be quite a surprise even to the experienced handyman.
Always turn off (de-energize) the circuit while you are working on it.
Protect the house wires while working by capping them with wire nuts.
Never touch the bare part of the wire.
Be careful!

Answer 3

if you have the old style of knob and tube or the old black sheath wiring it should still have color on each one just look really close if you cant if the box is grounded you can test with a voltage tester each wire to ground with the switch on the one that is hot is the black wire.

If there is no ground in box you can take a extension cord with the voltage tester plug one led into the long slot of the ext cord that should be the neutral side with the other led test each wire in the box the one that clicks on is the hot wire that one will connect to the black wire on the fixture and the other wire will connect to the white wire on the fixture be very careful when moving the old wires around because the insulation is VERY brittle and can fall off because of the heat build up over the years in ether case be careful as it could bite you

Answer 4

fixtures doesn't have standard black and white colors, so just connect one wire from your ceiling wire to one wire of the fixture and connect the other wire from the ceiling to the other wire to your fixture , if there is a green wire in the fixture you can connect it to the grounding of the box of the ceiling. the two wires coming out from the fixture doesn't have a polarity because i presume your lighting is alternating current

Answer 5

ok - that sounds a splash extraordinary ... truthfully the owner (are you renting?) has accountability to furnish approved and risk-free residing? in case you own, then your close by council will verify, and help rectify probably unsafe wiring. positioned purely, the Earth is there just to guard you from being taken aback if the casing of the fixture ought to grow to be stay. it rather is why the golf green/Earth in many situations attaches to the mild installation, and to not the mild itself. to respond to your questions: a million. you are able to set up it. that's a splash risky, yet how low is the ceiling? If it rather is way severe and not susceptible to be accidentally touched, then no genuine difficulty. additionally if the casing is plastic, not steel, you would be safer. yet i assume the fan veins are steel(?) 2. you additionally could make an earth by making use of working an earth cord to the installation from the different Earthed region. oftentimes each and every of the steel fittings in the bathing room would be Earthed - so radiators / pipes / tub / bathe. in case you have get admission to to adequate of the ceiling areas to run that cord, you additionally could make an Earth. How ordinary relies upon on the form of the ceilings and the format of the condominium. in my view, i might purely set up without an Earth. in case you install it properly, there is little danger of you wanting the 'back-up' of the Earth connection.

Answer 6

you have a black and a white and a copper wire and a blue? The light above will have the black and white and copper. The blue one would connect to the green one or (it should be in your instructions...it has been awhile since I did one.)

Answer 7

Knob & tube wiring in a house built in the 60's? Where do you live? Afganistan?

Call your local handyman or an electrician before you burn the house down or hurt yourself.