The wires are from an older light fixture. The wires function perfectly, but when the last light was removed, the wires were not labeled. Since the wires are older, their jackets are the same- off-white. I own a tester, but not sure, how to use it to identify the three types of wires- hot, neutral and ground. The wires are in three groups: one of three, one of two and one by itself (which I suspect is the ground). When I connect the tester to the group of three and two, it indicates power, regardless of the group of wires the tester prongs are touching, but that still doesn’t help me identify which is hot/neutral/ground.
2007-10-20 07:25:43 · 2 answers · asked by princefifer 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
I suspect you are talking about a 3 lamp fixture.
(Older fixtures lacked a ground wire).
Put your tester in continuity or 'ohms` mode.
With lamps removed, test each wire to the rim
of each socket, (white, neutral) and the center
pole of the socket (Black, phase).
I suspect you will find one pair to each socket.
Mark the phases and neutrals with tape or a
marking pen so you can connect them together
to the appropriate wires of your house wiring.
Bond the ground of your house wiring to the
mounting yoke when re-installing the fixture.
2007-10-20 08:22:23 · answer #1 · answered by Irv S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know what country you are in. I'm not sure if you are trying to test the wires coming from the fixture itself, or the electric box. I'm not sure what you mean by jacket. Are the wires inside the "jacket" colored? You say the tester indicates "power," do you mean voltage? What is the voltage? Be more clear, give more information as to what you want to do, and we will try to help.
For instance, if you are in the US, and you put the leads from a voltmeter to the hot and neutral, you will read 120 volts. From hot to ground, 120 volts. From neutral to ground, 0 volts. That is how you can tell the difference between the hot and neutral. It is harder to tell which is ground and which is neutral.
If you are testing the fixture itself, see Irv's answer.
2007-10-21 10:51:25 · answer #2 · answered by John himself 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋