replacing bathroom light fixture

I hope someone might be able to help me with problem that happened tonight. I am renovating a bathroom in a 40 year old house and was replacing the light fixture when the circuit for the master bath and bedroom went off. I only had the switch off, not the entire circuit. At the exact moment it went out I was removing the light's mounting plate from the wall and had pulled slightly on the two wires coming out of the wall. All my circuits are not labled (I know, what a stupid thing to admit). I can't really find which circuit is the master bedroom and bath. I tried switching the breakers on and off and seeing if anything went out. I found two circuits that did not appear to switch anything on/off. I replaced them, but no luck. I talked with an electrician and he mentioned that I might have created a short in the light switch. Should I replace the light switch? How about the wire from the switch to the light? All circuits are on now, and there is no power in the master bedroom and bath. If there was a short wouldn't it trip the breaker? Any suggestions?

Reply to
davery5872
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Are there any other wires inside of the box for the bath light fixture? If so, you may have disturbed a splice that feeds the entire circuit. It is possible that somewhere else in the wall is another outlet or junction box that was disturbed and the splices became loose. Open up the switch box and check the splices there. In a 40 year old house, there could be some wiring surprises that may have surfaced now that you are remodeling.

Reply to
John Grabowski

To add to what John said, there are probably more wires in the wall light outlet box then just the two for the fixture. Since the problem occurred as you pulled on them, you probably pulled a splice apart. Keep in mind the power is back on now, so be careful if you attempt to find and fix the problem

Reply to
RBM

It may be wired through the GFI outlet in the bathroom, check to see if the GFI has tripped. (Hint the GFI may be at any point in the bathroom or even a second bathroom)

Reply to
JGolan

There is no junction box, the light was attached to a stud. There is a GFI near the fixture. I bought a $2 tester and tested the circuit breakers. They seem to be OK. Could there be a junction box somewhere else that I disturbed? Could the light be run thru the GFI? Could the GFI disrupt the entire circuit? Thanks for your help.

Reply to
davery5872

Is there only one cable coming out of the wall where the fixture was? Is the GUCCI live? and reset button pushed in? The GUCCI could be protecting anything, and if you've got light fixtures with no junction boxes, you could have boxes buried as well

Reply to
RBM

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