I just bought my first home and am replacing a hideous light fixture in the dining room, and my husband wants to kill me for trying to do it myself, since I evidently don't know what I'm doing. That said, I made the big mistake of not noting what the previous connections were. There are two wires with cloth insulation coming out of the ceiling, and I can tell no difference between them. The new fixture is a small chandelier with 3 wires: a ribbed/blank, a smooth/printed, and a plain copper. With the last fixture, the copper wire was screwed to the junction box. Question # 1: What do I connect to what? The old light fixture is heavier than the new one, but the junction box seems a little unsturdy. One side is starting to come a little bit below the level of the ceiling, and the plaster is chipping a bit when I'm up there. Question # 2: Does this sound okay/normal? After an evening of frustration in the dark I gave up and used the plastic screw caps that came with the fixture the cover the ends of the wires in the ceiling and used a bit of electrical tape to keep them on, then tucked them back into the ceiling, and turned the fuse back on. Question # 3: Is this Safe?? Please help me out here, because I don't know where to go next, and I'm tired of having a dark dining room and constantly worrying I'll burn the house down. Thanks so much, Liz.

I am currently tring to install a dimmer and have tried many things to no avail. I am guessing someone will have a quick answer(hopes). I have a 2 switch outlet one goes to a outlet and the other goes to my recessed lighting. I am tring to dimmer the lighting but the only wires that come off the outlet switch to the switch for the light are 2 black wires i have tried single pole and dual but the best responce i have had is throwing the breaker n e help would be most apprecited! thanx judd