Bare copper wire in my outdoor carriage light

[Tekkie®]

Oren posted for all of us...

I don't bother to answer because they don't listen anyway..,

"You can't handle the truth" JN

[Tekkie®]

GARYWC posted for all of us...

My training is: DAGS FIRST!

[Tekkie®]

GARYWC posted for all of us...

NO! because they are connected to your brain which is obviously not connected. You are a dim bulb.

What does the oscilloscope read?

[DerbyDad03]

Have you bench tested the fixture?

I *am not* suggesting that you try this, just saying that's it's a valid, albeit completely unsafe, method to test the fixture and eliminate it as the problem.

[Gordon Shumway]

He said he replaced the switch, the socket and the wires in the light fixture (that sounds like everything) and wanted to know if he wired it correctly. Obviously not!

I didn't see any.

It's definitely way too complicated for him. Besides, "single-pole switch" implies "basic."

It should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer.

[Gordon Shumway]

Ahh, that's your problem. The distance from the switch is too long. Why didn't you tell us about the distance in the beginning? You need to go to 220 volts instead of 120 volts. Let us know how that works.

[GARYWC]

120 volts can't travel 4 FEET?

[FromTheRafters]

Gordon Shumway expressed precisely :

I was going to say something similar about the distance "There's your problem right there, it should be metric".

But then try to actually be little helpful by agreeing that a multimeter being a *really useful* tool for this sort of thing. Even one of those 'testers' with indicators for combinations of hot, neutral, and ground would be good, but a multimeter is best IMO.

A qualified electrician is even better, because there is always the chance that somebody's second ex-great step-uncle in law installed the thing in the first place and accidentally used neutral switching.

[DerbyDad03]

Ignore the idiot. He's "obviously" not here to help.

[FromTheRafters]

GARYWC formulated the question :

Getting a little away from the *other* subterfuge, but there's more than that amount of voltage between your feet and your head. It's the charge that has to travel through the wire, not the voltage. Current is the flow of charge, so some may argue that current also "flows".

[FromTheRafters]

FromTheRafters explained on 7/27/2016 :

Just to be more clear, current is the 'rate of' flow of charge. Saying that current flows through a wire is like saying MPH rolls down the highway. Common language doesn't make that distinction though.

[Gordon Shumway]

Actually there are two. The OP and what I recently proved you to be. >:P

[GARYWC]

To FromtheRafters:

It was Gordon Shumway that first said "volts" instead of "charge" (not me).

[Gordon Shumway]

ROTFLMAO

[DerbyDad03]

Yep, two.

The one that said "Besides, "single-pole switch" implies "basic.""

As if a light fixture with a motion sensor can't be controlled by a single-pole switch. Does it take some kind of complex multi-pole switch to control the power to a fixture with a motion sensor? How does the type of switch imply *anything* about the complexity of the fixture?

...and the one that said "I didn't see any."

Two idiots rolled into one.

[FromTheRafters]

GARYWC pretended :

Gordon Shumway was just joking about the distance between the switch and the lamp being at all relevant. I was more replying to the idea of "travel" over some length of wire than I was the use of "volts". Current (in Amps) is just as bad really as it is "charge" which actually flows, not current or voltage.

Anyway, this trivia doesn't really help you because theory isn't what you need to fix your problem. IMO what you need is a multimeter and someone who knows how to use it. Preferably a licensed electrician.

[FromTheRafters]

Gordon Shumway used his keyboard to write :

You got a real charge out of that exchange didn't you. ;)

[Diesel]

1,2,4

[Diesel]

Umm.. It sounds to me like you don't have a multimeter or any other means of safe voltage testing? And you don't seem to know what you're doing with the wiring either...It's not exactly rocket science though... so

Have you checked to make sure the breaker (or fuse isn't blown if it's fused, you haven't said.... so) isn't off or tripped?

Do you have access to a multimeter? There's several things which could cause the issue you're having. It would be helpful especially for you, if you had a multimeter to do some basic troubleshooting.

That's a lot of parts swapping for the same result. The chances of all components being bad at the same time and also being bad swap outs at the same time aren't really that great. So, unless you seriously screwed up the rewiring process, I'd say you (a) don't have power going to the light fixture, possibly not even to the switch or (b) you've lost the neutral someplace along the way.

With a multimeter, it wouldn't take you very long to determine which one it most likely is. And, of course, it should go without saying, you do need to know how to use the multimeter.

Standard disclaimer about risk of burns, severe shock, potential death, etc, applies.

[GARYWC]

I found a link that contains very clear and easy-to-follow instructions plus great photos of each step.