Help!!!.........with my new foyer light

Hi. I just installed a new light in the foyer of our home. I can do basic wiring, especially in instructions are included. But, I bought this fixture from the display floor...and it came with no directions. It took me a while, but I finally got (nealy) everything figured out. My only problem was...the new fixture did not have black and white wires, only gold...which to me, looked identical. I just guessed at which wire was hot and which was neutral. The fixture works fine, looks great...but I have concerns about the wiring. Does it pose a fire/shock hazzard if I connected the wrong wires?...or would it even work if I did it incorrectly? Since it works fine, I hope that all is ok. I'd appreciate any info. Like I said before, I am confident in my work as long as I have directions!

 

If you look very closely at those wires, you will find that one of the two wires has a small rib or stripe on it. That one should be connected to the neutral, and the one without the rib or stripe should be connected to the hot. The fixture will work either way, but safety is compromised if you get it backwards. So check it out, and correct it if necessary.

 

Gold wires? This must be pretty expensive.
Or else maybe they were cheap and used zip cord. If so, there would be ridges on one or the other. The side with the ridges would be the neutral or white wire.
It will work either way but the neutral or white side is supposed to attach to the screw shell and the hot [black] attaches to the little contact down at the bottom of the socket. This way it's harder to get shocked.
You could test with a meter to be sure.
-Peter

 

Most likely you will find that one of the two conductors has a ridge on it whereas the other wire does not. The ridged wire goes to the lampholder's threaded shell. If you have a test meter (continuity, VOM [volt-ohm-meter], etc.) you can check to see which of the two conductors feeds the center contact of the lampholder(s). The black (hot) wire should feed the center contact and the white (neutral) wire feeds the lampholder's threaded shell. The light(s) will work regardless whether you have it wired correctly or not however if the lampholder's threaded shell makes contact with the basic frame of the fixture - the entire fixture's frame will be hot with 120 volts! Having a proper ground attached to the fixture is always desireable.

Kooter

 

Thanks for the help. I am going to take the fixture down and double-check to see if the wires are connected properly.
Dino