I tried to add two recessed lights to our home's master bedroom, and they are not working. I hope you can help me understand what went wrong, and how to make them work.

First I installed the lights in the ceiling and wired them together by splicing black to black, white-white, ground-ground. I turned the power off, and cut the power cable to a circuit that powers two lights and the garage door. I put the ends into a junction box, and spliced them with a third wire to use as a power supply for the recessed lights. All of these cables are 14-2.

I ran the power supply wire down the wall to a single-pole switch. I attached the black power supply to the lower pole of the switch, and attached the black that goes to the first light to the top pole. I spliced the white to the white that goes on to the first light, and ground to ground.

When I turn the power on, the garage door and existing lights work, but the new recessed lights do nothing. I thought I might have the black wires reversed on the switch, so I reversed them and also got no results. Is it not possible to splice into a circuit by using a junction box? Do I need to bring my power supply from an outlet? Do I need to take the power to the lights first and the switch second, and if so how do I wire that?

Thanks for any help you can give me

 

What happens when you turn on the switch for the other two lights, then turn on your new ones? Sounds like you might have spliced into the other lights cable instead of the main circuit cable that feeds those two other things.

 

When I turn on the existing light switches, it has no effect on the lights I installed. They still do not work.

Maybe you can help me understand the difference between the power cable and the other cable I should not have tapped into. Thanks for your help.

I'm going to try putting a different fixture on the end of the line to see if the wiring is OK and the fixtures are bad. I bought them with a bunch of others when I finished the basement a few years ago, and have only gotten around to installing them now.

I am also thinking I should buy a current tester to see if I have power coming in to the new fixtures.

 

I was just wondering if you tapped into the cable going from the switch to your other lights.

 

Thanks, now I understand. I tapped in to the line as it comes away from the breaker box, before any switches for the existing fixtures.

 

Sounds like it's wired correctly from what you describe.

You have good bulbs? Definetly should get yourself a little $6 neon voltage tester and check power.

 

I don't know if you heard the term " switch loop " mean to ya you done right at the switch location and I really advise ya to remarked the white conductor to any colour { not the green BTW } that remarked white should be hot feed while the regular black conductor is switched feed at the junction box if that in the ceiling location and you can get up in the attic ?

If so .,, retrace that conductor to the luminaire when you make the connection make sure you get all the white netural wirenutted together but for the power you have to watch this step senice you got part right there but get the switched black hook up toward to the luminaire that should work.

If that don't work or other issue come up just holler one of us will steer ya right.

Merci,Marc

 

Thanks for all of your advice, OKC and Marc. Since you confirmed that I was probably okay on the wiring, I decided to check all of my connections. Turns out, in the junction box, when I cut off two inches of the outer cable insulation before stripping the ends of the wires, I nicked the black wire almost through. So, though it was nutted to the other black wires, it wasn't transmitting power. When I made sure all my connections were tight and there were no cuts in the wire, everything worked. Thanks again.