Electrical Light Fixtures
#1
I am a complete beginner as far as home electrics are concerned.
I am wanting to exchange a florescent strip for a hanging light. Having removed the florescant strip, I could only find one set of wires. This seems odd to me as I would have imagined that a circuit has to be maintained! I was expecting to find 2 sets of wires. Is this normal? Is this a branch off from the main circuit?
I am wanting to exchange a florescent strip for a hanging light. Having removed the florescant strip, I could only find one set of wires. This seems odd to me as I would have imagined that a circuit has to be maintained! I was expecting to find 2 sets of wires. Is this normal? Is this a branch off from the main circuit?
#2
Black wires are hot, white wires are neutral, green or bare wires are ground. You should have one each in the fixture box and one each on the fixture. Simply twist the ends of the black wires together and the white wires together, and hand twist on wire nuts (tightly). The ground wires should be twisted together and wirenutted or grounded to the box with a green screw. In lieu of wirenuts, you might want to use shrink connectors, since it is in a light fixture (heat). Your hardware supplier can help you.
#3
Forgot to answer your questions. Yes, one set of wires (black, white and bare ground) is normal. They should go back to your light switch that is fed from a separate circuit (the black and white wires) from your main panel (should be on a separate 15 amp breaker). Lights and outlets in a room are usually on separate circuits (20 amp breaker for outlets, usually). Make sure you flip off the right breaker, and test wires before touching. Sprky can get more technical, and give you better advice, if you need to know more info.