New ceiling light glows dimly

[rutgert]

Hi,

I recently added a ceiling light kit to an old ceiling fan. This included having to connect the blue wire which should have been connected to the hot source. However, although the fan still worked the light was very dim. Thinking that there was a slim chance there was a power issue preventing the light to shine properly I removed the newly installed light kit and the old ceiling fan. I next replaced it with a simple ceiling light. I proceeded to connect the black to black, the white to white, and the neutral as directed in the instructions. However, the result was the same. The light shines very dimly, just enough to barely have the light filament glow. Occassionally, the light does not even seem to come on. Although the ceiling light suggests 75W bulbs, I have also tried 60W and 40W bulbs with the same outcome. If the power source was sufficient to run a ceiling fan motor it seems it should be enough to light a 40W bulb. What am I overlooking? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[N8N]

How many wires are in the ceiling box, and what color are they? How is the ceiling fan controlled primarily? (switch on the wall, pull chain, etc.) is there a separate switch for the light?

nate

[rutgert]

Thanks for the quick reply! There are three wires in the ceiling box. They are white, black and green (solid strand). The ground/green wire has a stranded wire coming off it to make ground connections a little easier to make with the light/fan. The fan (before I removed it) was controlled by a switch on the wall. The fan also had a pull chain. There is only one switch on the wall for the light/fan. To make it simple I removed the fan and light kit, replacing it with just a ceiling light. The plan was to control this new light from the switch on the wall.

[Doug Miller]

OK.... now that you've removed the fan & light kit, and replaced it with a simple ceiling light -- does *that* light glow dimly too, or does it behave normally?

[rutgert]

It glows just as dimply.

[Jeff Wisnia]

If you are the same person who posted as " [e-mail]" about their fan/light problem:

I respecfully suggest that the light is overhead AND also YOU are in over your head with respect to not understanding basic electricity and wiring.

Which is not to say that you may be far more knowlegeable than me in many other subjects.

Stop screwing around with it now before whatever is reducing the power to that light bulb might get hot enough to burn your house down.

Get a knowlegeable DIYer or a pro in there before doing anything further you might regret.

Jeff

[Doug Miller]

By any chance, is this controlled by a pair of 3-way switches? And would one of them be a dimmer?

[John Grabowski]

My first thought is that the ceiling line is in series with something else. That would account for the dim light and for the fan working. That may be an indication of an improper or faulty neutral connection.

I would open up the switch and see what is going on in there. Make sure the neutrals are connected properly. The next step would be to check where that feed comes from and so on. Is everything else on that circuit working properly? You could try unplugging everything on that circuit to see if the dim light goes out all together.

[RBM]

I'm thinking along the same lines, but this statement has me confused. " I next replaced it with a simple ceiling light. I proceeded to connect the black to black, the white to white, and the neutral as directed in the instructions. "

[rutgert]

What I meant by that statement is that I replaced my ceiling fan with a ceiling light. Next, I proceeded to connect the ceiling light as follows.

1) I connected the black wire of the light fixture to the black source wire coming from the ceiling; and, 2) I connected the white wire of the light fixture to the white source wire coming from the ceiling; and, 3) I connected the bare ground wire from the light fixture with the green ground wire from the source coming from the ceiling to the ceiling lamp with the included green screw.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

[rutgert]

All switches on the wall seem to be two-way. None are dimmers.

[rutgert]

Although I believe I scanned the post you are referring to while searching for answers to my question on the net, I am not the same person. This is the first time I have ever posted a home improvement question on the net. My issue seemed different from the other poster you are referring to, which is why I proceeded create my own post. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[rutgert]

Thanks, I will check the neutrals. I think first I will measure the voltage source coming from the ceiling which powers the ceiling lamp and then move to the switch if I don't measure 110V.

Thanks again for the advice!

[Chris Lewis]

According to :

If you're only getting a dim light from this, either the circuit is miswired and thus the color codes are lying to you, or, one of the connections in the circuit or the switch[es?] has gone bad.

I _have_ seen people use the black for unswitched hot, the white for switched hot, and the ground for neutral.

You're going to need to open up the switch[es?] and see what's connected to what, and check for char marks etc.

Be careful, because a dim light may be indicative of a bad connection overheating.

[Doug Miller]

In that case, I'm sorry to tell you that you have a substantial problem somewhere, likely one of the following:

- high-resistance connection either in the feed, or the neutral (THIS IS AN IMMINENT FIRE HAZARD)

- fixture is wired in series with another light fixture or a receptacle

- circuit is miswired

Probably time to call a pro.

[franz frippl]

If I were to guess, there is a dimmer switch controlling the light. If not on the wall, then there is one in the light fixture itself.

You may also check the wires to make certain you have connected the load and neutral wires correctly to the light fixture.

[Jeff Wisnia]

Your post indicates that the dim light bulb sometimes doesn't even come on, so try this:

Get the bulb glowing and then whack the wall adjacent to the switch (or switches) with your clenched fist. See if shaking things that way makes the bulb glow brighter or go out.

If it does, you've located a "loose disconnection" at or in the switch, which you should be able to correct fairly easily.

"Back stabbed" wiring connections on switches are known for their proclivity to develop poor connections. Most everyone on this newsgroup will say not to use them but make connections to the terminal screws instead. If that's what's being used, change over to using the terminal screws.

Good luck,

Jeff