Please tell me all is OK


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Old 07-01-06, 09:08 PM
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Please tell me all is OK

Thanks in advance for your replies. This is my first post as I have never been a real DIY'er. However, I was today and now have a really stupid question. Can a light fixture work even if it is incorrectly wired? Here is the background to my question:

My wife begged me to install a new lighting fixture in the kitchen. I figured "how hard could it be, "match the wires, mount the new fixture and voila.

I removed the old fixture, and noted that the white wire was connected to white, black to black, and ground to ground. However, the new fixture had clear wires. Figuring I had a 50% chance of being right I arbitrarily connected the two clear wires to the black and white wires in the box, secured the fixture and had my wife reset the breaker. **fingers crossed**

It turns out that the light works fine. So then I started wondering: Does this mean I guessed correctly, or could the light still work even if I wired it wrong? I figured that if wired incorrectly it would throw the breaker and then I would know to switch the two wires. Is this in fact the case, or could I still have a problem?

Once again, thanks for your insight. I won't sleep good until I know there is nothing to worry about.
 
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Old 07-02-06, 05:59 AM
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Yes, the light will work even if you had the connections from the clear cable crossed.

The issue that arises is the screw shell would be electrically hot instead of the tab at the bottom of the socket. This could make it easier for someone to receive a shock while changing a bulb.

One side of the cord should have some small ridges on it. This would connect to the white wire from the ceiling box.
 
 

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