I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
What do I do?
Thanks,
S.
On Nov 3, 2:30 pm, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
"> What do I do?"
The white goes to white, the black goes to black and the green goes to
the bare copper (ground wires).
The porcelain fixture (keyless) is removed and the track lighting
adapter plate is wired in its place a(as above) nd secured as was the
"keyless." The tracks are fixed to the adapter and screwed into the
ceiling as per the mounting instructions (If you do not have these
try a search on google) or through the "obvious" mounting holes
provided. That is all
> I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
> In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
> from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
> fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>
> On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>
> What do I do?
>
> Thanks,
>
> S.
"samson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
> In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
> from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
> fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>
> On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>
> What do I do?
>
> Thanks,
>
I admire your attempt to do for yourself, but you clearly don't have the
essentials to do for yourself in the world of electricity. Not that you
can't develop it by any means, because everyone that ever learned this stuff
before you started from the beginning. But... now is not the time to turn
to the internet to learn how to wire. You can and should start with a basic
book available from Home Depot on basic home wiring. It will teach you the
basics of all of those wires coming into the box. And - it won't take you a
long time to read and master. You'll have the added advantage of pictures
which do come in handy when learning something new. Learn the basics and
then ask questions on an internet forum.
Or - you can call an electrician. I personally think you should. That way
you can ask him all of the questions your heart desires and get direct
answers right there in front of you. Again - I don't mean to be insulting
but the internet is not the place for your questions to be answered.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 14:30:54 -0500, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
>In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
>from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
>fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>
>On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>
>What do I do?
>
>Thanks,
>
>S.
Invite a friend over, IF he knows what he's doing around electricity..
Get a cheap tester at the BORG so you can KNOW what the black/white/bare are and
if the polarity are right..
It sounds like whoever put the lights up didn't know what to do with the ground
(should be green, not bare) so just twisted the 2 grounds together and pushed
them out of the way...
USUALLY, black to black, white to white and green or bare to green...
The down side of that is that you're trusting whoever wired the basement... that
they knew what they were doing and that they didn't run out of the right color
and just say the hell with coding it..
(I have a 220v RV plug that has ALL white wires)
Testing is a lot better than blowing breakers and/or straightening your hair..
YMWV
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
"samson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, Tom Veatch
> says...
>> On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 14:30:54 -0500, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
>> >In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
>> >from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
>> >fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>> >
>> >On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>> >
>> >What do I do?
>> >
>> >Thanks,
>> >
>> >S.
>>
>> I assume that you are replacing an existing fixture with the track
>> lighting. If that is the case, first ensure that the circuit is dead.
>> AT A MINIMUM, be sure the switch controlling the light is turned off
>> and can't be turned on while you are working on the replacement. But,
>> if at all possible, locate the breaker for the circuit and be sure it
>> is in the OFF position. If there is any danger of someone re powering
>> the circuit while you are working, take whatever steps are necessary
>> to prevent it.
>>
>> Once the circuit is dead you can remove the wires from the existing
>> fixture and ASSUMING that the color codes are per convention, the two
>> existing black wires (the "hot" wire) connect to the black wire from
>> the track light, the two existing white wires (the "neutral" wire)
>> connect to the white wire from the track light, and the green track
>> light wire connects to the two existing bare wires (the "ground"
>> wire). Connections can be made with wire nuts of the correct size. I'm
>> just guessing, and it's strictly a guess, not being able to see the
>> wire gauges involved, but probably the "yellow" wire nuts are the
>> correct size for the application.
>>
>> Tom Veatch
>> Wichita, KS
>> USA
>
> Greatly appreciated, Tom!
>
Have your work inspected before you fire it up.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
"mac davis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 4 Nov 2007 14:41:18 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
> <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>Unless they wired in conduit how would they run out of the right color?
>>Most homes are wired with Romex - all the right colors are built right in.
>
> You're assuming wiring by someone that knew what they were doing, Mike..
>
> You get a 30 or 40 year old house that's had several owners and you might
> find
> ANYTHING..
>
> I had a 10 min light switch change turn into several hours because when
> the guy
> I was helping change his switch pulled it out of the outlet box to get to
> the
> screws, he ended up with the switch, several short pieces of wire and a
> few wire
> nuts in his hand... OOPS!
>
> Some previous genius had broken or cut off the wires in the wall, which
> made
> them too short... followed by trying to splice them all with brown
> extension
> cord wire and wire nuts..
> We ended up opening up the wall and adding a junction box and new wires
> and
> outlet box..
>
> Sort of gives you an idea why a good mechanic wants to tune up your car
> before
> trying to fix the problem you describe..
>
Yeah - there are horror stories of all sorts out there, and all of us who
have done some wiring have encountered some of them. But the original point
wasn't about wiring cob jobs. It was about what sounded to be pretty much
proper wiring. Why would one assume - for the sake of adding a new light,
that otherwise proper looking wiring, might have been done in error? When
one opens up a box and finds two runs of Romex in it, and otherwise looking
proper, why would one assume that there might be something wrong? If that
were the rule, we'd all be tearing out walls every time we opened up a box.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
[email protected] wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
>
> The green is ALWAYS ground. Black is power. White is common (return
> to the power panel)
>
> Pete
Just a notational issue: The white wire is also called the "neutral"
wire.
It depends on what part of the world you're in as to how dumb you are.
(Paraphrase from /Smokey and The Bandit./)
Puckdropper
--
Wise is the man who attempts to answer his question before asking it.
To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm
samson wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, Tom Veatch
> says...
>> On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 14:30:54 -0500, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
>>> In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
>> >from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
>>> fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>>>
>>> On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>>>
>>> What do I do?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> S.
>> I assume that you are replacing an existing fixture with the track
>> lighting. If that is the case, first ensure that the circuit is dead.
>> AT A MINIMUM, be sure the switch controlling the light is turned off
>> and can't be turned on while you are working on the replacement. But,
>> if at all possible, locate the breaker for the circuit and be sure it
>> is in the OFF position. If there is any danger of someone re powering
>> the circuit while you are working, take whatever steps are necessary
>> to prevent it.
>>
>> Once the circuit is dead you can remove the wires from the existing
>> fixture and ASSUMING that the color codes are per convention, the two
>> existing black wires (the "hot" wire) connect to the black wire from
>> the track light, the two existing white wires (the "neutral" wire)
>> connect to the white wire from the track light, and the green track
>> light wire connects to the two existing bare wires (the "ground"
>> wire). Connections can be made with wire nuts of the correct size. I'm
>> just guessing, and it's strictly a guess, not being able to see the
>> wire gauges involved, but probably the "yellow" wire nuts are the
>> correct size for the application.
>>
>> Tom Veatch
>> Wichita, KS
>> USA
>
> Greatly appreciated, Tom!
>
> S.
I would say at a BARE MINIMUM turn the power off at the circuit breaker.
Too many times have I seen a light switch wired incorrectly by a sparky
who wasn't paying attention, or the new apprentice has been given the job.
If the switch is connected to the neutral instead of the active the
switch still works, but the active is still live waiting for a completed
circuit i.e. light fitting to you to ground to hospital to morgue etc.
Please make sure you know what your doing.
I've danced with the lady and I'm telling you it does more than tickle.
Peter
"Mike Marlow" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
> "mac davis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Invite a friend over, IF he knows what he's doing around
>> electricity..
>>
>> Get a cheap tester at the BORG so you can KNOW what the
>> black/white/bare are and
>> if the polarity are right..
>>
>> It sounds like whoever put the lights up didn't know what to do with
>> the ground
>> (should be green, not bare) so just twisted the 2 grounds together
>> and pushed
>> them out of the way...
>>
>
> Ground is bare or green. Nothing wrong with bare ground at all.
> Grounds should be twisted together and either crimped or capped with a
> wire nut. Nothing wrong with that either.
>
>
>> USUALLY, black to black, white to white and green or bare to green...
>>
>> The down side of that is that you're trusting whoever wired the
>> basement... that
>> they knew what they were doing and that they didn't run out of the
>> right color
>> and just say the hell with coding it..
>
> Unless they wired in conduit how would they run out of the right
> color? Most homes are wired with Romex - all the right colors are
> built right in.
>
Never under estimate the stupidity of the novice wiring job. They may,
for some reason, have bought the wire as a single conductor. (Lots of
valid reasons for that.) When they went to wire the outlet, they used
what they had.
Puckdropper
--
Wise is the man who attempts to answer his question before asking it.
To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm
On Mon, 5 Nov 2007 22:27:44 -0500, "Mike Marlow" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Yeah - there are horror stories of all sorts out there, and all of us who
>have done some wiring have encountered some of them. But the original point
>wasn't about wiring cob jobs. It was about what sounded to be pretty much
>proper wiring. Why would one assume - for the sake of adding a new light,
>that otherwise proper looking wiring, might have been done in error? When
>one opens up a box and finds two runs of Romex in it, and otherwise looking
>proper, why would one assume that there might be something wrong? If that
>were the rule, we'd all be tearing out walls every time we opened up a box.
I guess I've been burned too many times by assuming.. lol
Our house is new and when we did the walk through, I had a cheap
circuit/polarity tester with me.. one that plugs in and lights some pretty
colored lights..
I found 3 or 4 outlets that had reversed polarity..
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
"Puckdropper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Never under estimate the stupidity of the novice wiring job. They may,
> for some reason, have bought the wire as a single conductor. (Lots of
> valid reasons for that.) When they went to wire the outlet, they used
> what they had.
>
I didn't see anything that indicated this was wired by a novice. By the
description given, my most likely assumption would be Romex since he
indicated the bare wire grounds.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
In article <[email protected]>, Tom Veatch
says...
> On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 14:30:54 -0500, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
> >In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
> >from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
> >fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
> >
> >On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
> >
> >What do I do?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >S.
>
> I assume that you are replacing an existing fixture with the track
> lighting. If that is the case, first ensure that the circuit is dead.
> AT A MINIMUM, be sure the switch controlling the light is turned off
> and can't be turned on while you are working on the replacement. But,
> if at all possible, locate the breaker for the circuit and be sure it
> is in the OFF position. If there is any danger of someone re powering
> the circuit while you are working, take whatever steps are necessary
> to prevent it.
>
> Once the circuit is dead you can remove the wires from the existing
> fixture and ASSUMING that the color codes are per convention, the two
> existing black wires (the "hot" wire) connect to the black wire from
> the track light, the two existing white wires (the "neutral" wire)
> connect to the white wire from the track light, and the green track
> light wire connects to the two existing bare wires (the "ground"
> wire). Connections can be made with wire nuts of the correct size. I'm
> just guessing, and it's strictly a guess, not being able to see the
> wire gauges involved, but probably the "yellow" wire nuts are the
> correct size for the application.
>
> Tom Veatch
> Wichita, KS
> USA
Greatly appreciated, Tom!
S.
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
> In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
> from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
> fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>
> On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>
> What do I do?
>
> Thanks,
>
> S.
>
Followup. The wiring went well. The lights look great.
FYI, I put up other track lights before in the basement,
at a terminal outlet with one bare copper, black, and
white wire. This new set of track lights was at a junction
with two wires for each color. It seemed somewhat obvious
what to do, but you never know. Better to be safe and
check. I appreciate the help.
S.
[email protected] wrote:
>>>On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>>>
>>>What do I do?
>
>
>
> The green is ALWAYS ground. Black is power. White is common (return
> to the power panel)
>
> Pete
Hopefully.
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
[email protected]
samson wrote:
> I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
> In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
> from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
> fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>
> On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>
> What do I do?
>
> Thanks,
>
> S.
Call an electrician?
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
[email protected]
"mac davis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Invite a friend over, IF he knows what he's doing around electricity..
>
> Get a cheap tester at the BORG so you can KNOW what the black/white/bare
> are and
> if the polarity are right..
>
> It sounds like whoever put the lights up didn't know what to do with the
> ground
> (should be green, not bare) so just twisted the 2 grounds together and
> pushed
> them out of the way...
>
Ground is bare or green. Nothing wrong with bare ground at all. Grounds
should be twisted together and either crimped or capped with a wire nut.
Nothing wrong with that either.
> USUALLY, black to black, white to white and green or bare to green...
>
> The down side of that is that you're trusting whoever wired the
> basement... that
> they knew what they were doing and that they didn't run out of the right
> color
> and just say the hell with coding it..
Unless they wired in conduit how would they run out of the right color?
Most homes are wired with Romex - all the right colors are built right in.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
On Sun, 4 Nov 2007 14:41:18 -0500, "Mike Marlow" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Unless they wired in conduit how would they run out of the right color?
>Most homes are wired with Romex - all the right colors are built right in.
You're assuming wiring by someone that knew what they were doing, Mike..
You get a 30 or 40 year old house that's had several owners and you might find
ANYTHING..
I had a 10 min light switch change turn into several hours because when the guy
I was helping change his switch pulled it out of the outlet box to get to the
screws, he ended up with the switch, several short pieces of wire and a few wire
nuts in his hand... OOPS!
Some previous genius had broken or cut off the wires in the wall, which made
them too short... followed by trying to splice them all with brown extension
cord wire and wire nuts..
We ended up opening up the wall and adding a junction box and new wires and
outlet box..
Sort of gives you an idea why a good mechanic wants to tune up your car before
trying to fix the problem you describe..
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 14:30:54 -0500, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
>In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
>from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
>fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>
>On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>
>What do I do?
>
>Thanks,
>
>S.
I assume that you are replacing an existing fixture with the track
lighting. If that is the case, first ensure that the circuit is dead.
AT A MINIMUM, be sure the switch controlling the light is turned off
and can't be turned on while you are working on the replacement. But,
if at all possible, locate the breaker for the circuit and be sure it
is in the OFF position. If there is any danger of someone re powering
the circuit while you are working, take whatever steps are necessary
to prevent it.
Once the circuit is dead you can remove the wires from the existing
fixture and ASSUMING that the color codes are per convention, the two
existing black wires (the "hot" wire) connect to the black wire from
the track light, the two existing white wires (the "neutral" wire)
connect to the white wire from the track light, and the green track
light wire connects to the two existing bare wires (the "ground"
wire). Connections can be made with wire nuts of the correct size. I'm
just guessing, and it's strictly a guess, not being able to see the
wire gauges involved, but probably the "yellow" wire nuts are the
correct size for the application.
Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS
USA
On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 19:41:59 GMT, Nova <[email protected]> wrote:
>samson wrote:
>
>> I'm trying to put up some track lights in the basement.
>> In the ceiling, I have black and white wires coming out
>> from two sources and wired to two set screws on the porceline
>> fixture, and two copper wires wrapped together and tucked in.
>>
>> On the track lighting, I have a black, green, and white.
>>
>> What do I do?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> S.
>
>Call an electrician?
If he's gotta' ask... 8^(
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