wiring up lights to old lines


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Old 09-05-11, 01:12 PM
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wiring up lights to old lines

ok
i put up 5 recessed lights, one is working off one switch, there was an old three way in the wall that i used for that
the other 4 i tried hooking up to wire that were in the box, old bx wire, i believe one is marked white, and theres 2 others, not sure if their the same wire or not, already patched wall
i hooked up the one that was reading hot to the switch, and the black from the lights, and the whites together, turn on the dimmer, and power goes into the other black, but no lights
any ideas
was going to run new wires from the panel, but its like a 100 year old house with some kind of brick and block contruction, with about an inch of paster
thanks
 
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Old 09-05-11, 02:26 PM
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Assuming the new lights are to be controlled by the same set of 3-way switches as the first light they should be connected with 2-wire MC or AC cable at the first light to the same two wires the black and white of the light is connected to. Or did these other lights go into existing boxes not new boxes?
 
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Old 09-05-11, 04:20 PM
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the other 4 i tried hooking up to wire that were in the box, old bx wire, i believe one is marked white, and theres 2 others, not sure if their the same wire or not, already patched wall
Does this mean you patched the wall over the box where you made the connections?
 
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Old 09-05-11, 06:17 PM
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The new fixtures most likely had a warning that they were only to be used with 90 degree C rated insulation. Your old BX does not have this insulation and should not have been used to feed the lights.

You may have hooked into 3 way switch wiring.
 
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Old 09-06-11, 03:47 AM
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i wanted 2 switches for the 5 lights, ones at the bottom of the stairs on the three way, the other 4 are in the living room, when i had them all hooked to one switch they would come on real dim
yes i patched the walls already, rooms all painted and done, thought i was just doing something wrong the first day so just finished everything else
so your saying the best bet is to just run a new wire from the panel?
would it be wrong to just cut out the plaster and run it along the block, and just patch in some half inch, like i said the plasters about an inch thick, rather then trying to get the wire to run threw the block
 
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Old 09-06-11, 05:28 AM
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I can tell you that you have a wiring mistake somewhere that should be corrected. The lights should not be dim. At best you have a loose connection that should be found to prevent a fire hazard. At worst you have wired something in series and should be rewired to correctly operate.
 
 

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