changing outdoor light outside garage


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Old 01-24-18, 08:01 PM
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changing outdoor light outside garage

I have three outdoor wall lights next to the garage door. They were lit fine, but getting rusty. So I bought three new lights and installed. Now most time, it's only the first light lit. The other two were lit for a day or two, then no more lit.

The first light fixture has two black, two white wires, and the ground wire. I assume one is from the switch, the other goes to the second light fixture. The second light fixture has two black, two white wires, and the ground wire. I assume one is from the first fixture, the other goes to the third light fixture. The third light fixture only has one black, one white and one ground. I assume they are from the second fixture.

On all light fixtures, I tied up the black wire of the new light to the black wires of the fixtures. And white to white, ground to ground.

Any thought?
 
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Old 01-24-18, 09:08 PM
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Yes.... the wiring loops thru the first and second lights and ends at the third light.

It sounds like an issue with the fixtures or the bulbs.
Are these basic incandescent type fixtures ?
If not....what are they ? A link would be helpful.
 
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Old 01-25-18, 04:19 AM
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They were bought here https://www.lowes.com/pd/Portfolio-1...Light/50106280

I tried both LED and non-LED bulbs.
 
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Old 01-25-18, 07:35 PM
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Those appear to be basic fixtures. If I was checking out the problem I'd take and carefully use a voltmeter to check at the socket for 120vac.
 
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Old 02-09-18, 04:10 PM
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Came back to this. So my switch ( a in-wall digital switch with timer) can turn on and off the first light. The second light is not lit. Now I removed the first light fixture. When I turn on the switch, the first light cables voltage between black and white is 120, between black and ground is 120, and between white and ground is zero. When I turn off the switch, it's the same voltage as turned on. When turning it on, the switch display sometimes blanked out. It comes back when pressing a button. The voltage of the second light between black and white is always 0 regardless on or off.

Is it a bad switch? why always no voltage on the second light?
 
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Old 02-09-18, 04:35 PM
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The timer turns the first light on.... so that isn't the problem.
You have 120v at the first fixture but not the second one. That's a problem.
I'm guessing the third light is also out ?

You should have two cables at the first light. Power in and out to the the second fixture. There must be a splice issue at the first or second fixture.

That is probably a two wire timer and it steals its power thru the lamp fixtures. With only one lamp working it could dim due to not enough charge.
 
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Old 02-09-18, 06:28 PM
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Yes. The third light is out. I have two black and two white at the first and second light fixture. Can you elaborate the splice issue?

My timer has been working fine until recently I changed the light fixture. Even for the three new light fixtures, they were lit for a few day. Then only the first one work.
 
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Old 02-09-18, 06:33 PM
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I changed several connectors to splice. When I take off the connector, the two wires are still spliced together tightly.
 
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Old 02-09-18, 06:44 PM
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The power comes from the timer to the first fixture. There is a splice there combining the two white wires and the two black wires. Then a splice from fixture 2 to fixture 3. The wiring is very straightforward.

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Old 02-09-18, 06:56 PM
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right. i got that part as I explained in my first post. Could be a broken wire?
 
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Old 02-09-18, 07:50 PM
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If you double checked all the splices and haven't found a problem..... that leaves a damaged cable.
 
 

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