Ceiling lights wiring plan

[Len56]

I started this thread on 03/17/2009 with the post shown below. Now, another question has come up.

The wiring is being done with the feeds going to the ceiling fans in 3 different rooms, and a 12/2 wire "switch loop" being dropped from each ceiling fan to the switch for that fan. I know that the white wire in the switch loop gets coded black on both ends using black tape.

But, here's the question: The person who is doing the wiring plan is saying something about ending up with "two black wires" in the ceiling box, and that one of the black wires needs to be coded as white(?). I really can't follow what he is saying. He did say that all of the white wires are connected together as they should be, but that there is somehow an extra black wire that will confuse the next person who opens up the box because it should be white. He claims he called a licensed electrician friend of his who told him he needs to spray paint that black wire white. He said the electrician told him that's just how it is, and you need to get yourself a can of white spray paint and paint that wire white. Supposedly, the electrician said, "That's just how it's done, and that's what we do".

Unfortunately, I d> I have an apartment that is being rewired and I am trying to find

[N8N]

I can't imagine why you would need to color a black wire white, and I'm also pretty sure that it's against code. That is, you can color a white wire to be a "hot" wire (black, red, blue, etc.) but not vice versa. A typical switch leg would be a 2-wire (with ground, of course) cable between the ceiling box and the switch. The black wire would be connected to the "hot" (normally black) wires in the ceiling box, the white wire would be marked with colored tape (to distinguish it from the white neutral(s) present in the same box) and then connected to the black wire of the light fixture. At the switch, the white wire would again be marked with colored tape and both black and useta-be-white would be connected to the two terminals of the switch. There is no neutral in the wall box for the switch in a standard switch leg configuration.

nate

[metspitzer]

no

[Len56]

Oops, sorry, please disregard my entire post about marking a black wire to be white.

I just went to the property and the guy who told me that his electrician friend told him to mark the black wire as white now says that he thinks his "friend" must have been playing a joke on him. He said he figured out what he was doing wrong in the wiring plan at the ceiling box and he fixed it. Apparently this "friend" must have been messing with him and playing some kind of sick joke on him.

I can't imagine why you would need to color a black wire white, and I'm also pretty sure that it's against code. That is, you can color a white wire to be a "hot" wire (black, red, blue, etc.) but not vice versa. A typical switch leg would be a 2-wire (with ground, of course) cable between the ceiling box and the switch. The black wire would be connected to the "hot" (normally black) wires in the ceiling box, the white wire would be marked with colored tape (to distinguish it from the white neutral(s) present in the same box) and then connected to the black wire of the light fixture. At the switch, the white wire would again be marked with colored tape and both black and useta-be-white would be connected to the two terminals of the switch. There is no neutral in the wall box for the switch in a standard switch leg configuration.

nate