Adding a Light Fixture


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Old 05-22-18, 05:40 PM
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Adding a Light Fixture

Hello,

Trying to wire a fixture but really cant figure this out. I opened the cover and found a million wires. Red , brown/blue , black are all live. The rest look like ground?

I believe Red is meant for the fixture, it was completely insulated when I found it and was tagged as live. I measure 120V from red to white (good) but when I toggle the light switch I measure 37V across. I still measure current with my electrical tester. This really confused me.

If I disconnect the 2 black wires so they're not making contact with each other, I will then be measuring 25V across red to white. The measurement goes to 0 when I toggle the switch. Also confirmed with electrical tester which no longer beeps.

Makes no sense!!! Help??

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Last edited by PJmax; 05-22-18 at 06:50 PM. Reason: enlarged/enhanced picture
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Old 05-22-18, 06:54 PM
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Welcome to the forums.

Don't randomly open or change any splices. There are way too many wires in that box.
Looks like at least six cables.

Red is your switched hot and the large white splice is your neutral connection.
Measuring 37v with the switch off using a digital meter is normal. It's a residual or ghost voltage read by sensitive meters when a tested dead wire is near a live wire.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 03:59 AM
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Hmm interesting. Thank you for the response.

So I should go ahead and use the red and the white?

I was worried that the light would be constantly consuming power with the red being 37V. That's not the case?
 

Last edited by _rara_; 05-23-18 at 04:18 AM.
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Old 05-23-18, 04:17 AM
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The voltage detector beeps around the red wire regardless of the switch position as well. Is this normal? Will it beep around a ghost voltage?

I did some quick googling.. I don't have a low impedance setting on my multimeter to verify that it's a ghost voltage. Is there any other method I can use? Should the voltage go away if I connect the light fixture?
 
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Old 05-23-18, 04:58 AM
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The voltage detector beeps around the red wire regardless of the switch position
More toy then a real test instrument. Has its uses but can't be trusted.

I don't have a low impedance setting on my multimeter to verify that it's a ghost voltage. Is there any other method I can use?
Use an analog multimeter. They are low impedance. You can also put a load across the hot and neutral before measuring.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 06:17 AM
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Hi,was there a fixture there that you removed ? If so use those 2 conductors for the new fixture. As mentioned DON’T OPEN ANY SPLICES!
Geo
 
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Old 05-23-18, 12:25 PM
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No fixtures before.

I heard you loud and clear won't open any splices anymore.

I'm going to try and connect a load between red and white and measure the voltage as I press the switch. I'll report back.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 06:49 PM
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Connect a lamp there. Connect your fixture and try it.
 
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Old 05-28-18, 06:29 AM
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Done and working

thanks for the help everyone. Much appreciated.
 
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Old 05-28-18, 06:36 AM
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Thanks for the update.
Geo
 
 

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