Old Ceiling Fan/Light gone with two wires coming from the ceiling

Apr 18, 2006 2 Replies

There was an old ceiling fan/light with a pull chain in which I took off a week ago. There is a switch in the wall that also controls the light. When I connected the new light wires (no fan - two 60 watt bulbs) to the fixtures light wires (two old wires look the same) and the wall switch wires (14/2) and turned the power on, the ceiling light bulbs stayed on all the time when the wall switch is off. When I turned the wall switch on it tripped the breaker in the downstairs panel.



There were only two wires coming from the ceiling, so I figured one was hot and one was neutral. Maybe, they were connected to the outlet in the wall?



Any ideas how I miswired this light?



If I am reading right you have wired:

--------------------------O------------------------ "fixture light wires" | to switch (power supply) light |

--------------------------O------------------------

It should be wired:

--------------------------O------------------------ "fixture light wires" to switch (power supply) O------------------------ | light |

--------------------------O The NEC requires the top supply wire to be the hot wire (typically black) and the bottom supply wire to be the neutral (white). With Romex to the switch - top wire white taped/marked black, bottom wire black. The connections are required to be in a junction box which the light fixture is secured to.

If this looks wrong inquire further.

bud--

Thanks Bud... After seeing your diagram I realized what I did wrong. You did your good deed for a month or more.

Chris

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