I am an avid DIY guy. I have tackled many projects in my new home of three years. Just recently installed a new dome light in the center of my son's bedroom. So here's my issue. Originally there was a wall sconce style light on the wall. I removed that light and the idea was to wire nut a longer line from the old wire to the new light location. When i removed the old light from the wall to expose the box I noticed the main source came in at the box. In this box it has 3 whips. 1 for the main source, one for the switch and another that apparently goes out to a hallway light right outside the bedroom. The hallway light has its own switch. So I hooked everything up to the best of my ability but now the only way you can use the light in the hallway is if you have the light on in the bedroom. I can't afford an electrician right now so any help is very much appreciated. I will draw a picture of my situation and post it if necessary. Thank you in advance.
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nobody can afford an election ... lol – jsotola Dec 01 '19 at 04:52
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you probably have a hot coming into the box and it continued to the hallway ... the bedroom light is on the other side of the switch from the hot line ... you connected the hallway line to the switched hot – jsotola Dec 01 '19 at 04:54
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Tip for the future. When you pull of the fixture and before you disconnect **anything**, photograph the wiring. Also, as you disconnect wires, label them with tabs of tape. In this case, you’d have connected the new wire to the new light in place of the old fixture and reconnect everything else, as it was, from the photograph. – DoxyLover Dec 01 '19 at 11:46
2 Answers
Identify your new cable going to the ceiling lamp. Mark the black wire with red tape. The color of this wire is now red, because the tape overrides the original color.
Identify the cable going off to the switch. Mark its white wire with black tape, and mark its black wire with red tape.
Now join black to black, red to red and white to white.
Put a blank cover plate over it. This must remain accessible forever. You can paint over the cover plate but cannot remove it.
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A photo of the wires stretched out of the junction box would certainly help. Geographic location is important too - common practices and techniques vary around the world. You probably have a situation like the following:
One cable brings hot (black wire) and neutral (white wire) into the junction box. One cable carries hot (black) and neutral (white) out of this box to the hallway light. You've added one cable to carry switched hot (black) and always-on neutral (white) to the new light location. Connect all these white wires together; connect the first two black wires together. At this point you should be able to test the circuit and confirm that the hallway light works correctly.
The final cable in the box might be three-conductor (red, black, and white, plus bare copper ground) or two-conductor (black and white).
If it is 3-conductor: the black and the white should be joined with the corresponding colors from the supply and the hallway light cables. The red should be the switched hot and would connect to the black wire going to the new light location.
If it is 2-conductor: The white wire should be marked black somehow (electrical tape, heat shrink tube, or marker). Add it to the group of two black wires from the supply and hallway light cables. The real black wire of this cable would be your switched hot and would connect with the black wire of the cable going to the new light location.
Make sure all the bare ground wires, including the one in your new cable, are securely connected together.
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