Need help wiring light fixture

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Oct 25th, 2015 8:03 pm

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Oct 18th, 2015 1:34 pm

Newbie456 [OP]: Newbie; Oct 17, 2015; 2 posts; East York, ON

Oct 18th, 2015 1:34 pm

Need help wiring light fixture

First time posting here - need some help installing a new light fixture in a condo, any help would be much appreciated.

The light fixture has a black and red wire and a green bolt/nut. There are four clusters of wires: a cluster of blue, a cluster of green, a cluster of white, and a single yellow wire.

My guess is that the single yellow wire should connect with the black wire from the light but I'm not sure what to connect to the red wire on the light. The instructions from the light fixture don't mention anything about the green bolt/nut but should I connect the green wire to this? Pictures below for reference.

[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/n2ftps/8[/IMG]
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/1174669/8[/IMG]

10 replies

Oct 18th, 2015 2:58 pm

Dsidhu: Member; Nov 14, 2013; 498 posts; 160 upvotes; Brampton, Ontario

Oct 18th, 2015 2:58 pm

Can't see your pictures bud, try hosting using imgur.com

Oct 18th, 2015 3:06 pm

charlesd79: Deal Addict; Mar 7, 2011; 3716 posts; 1955 upvotes; Vancouver

Oct 18th, 2015 3:06 pm

are you sure those are power wires ? they don't look like to me ...
check with a non-contact tester or with a multimeter
the green bolt/nut on the fixture is the ground, in a typical light box it connects to the uninsulated copper wire that goes along with the phase (black) and the null (white)

Oct 18th, 2015 3:21 pm

charlesd79: Deal Addict; Mar 7, 2011; 3716 posts; 1955 upvotes; Vancouver

Oct 18th, 2015 3:21 pm

that looks like a weird 3-way switch setup. can you take one of the switches that controls this circuit out of the wall and take a picture of it ? it would help a lot
[IMG]http://oi62.tinypic.com/n2ftps.jpg[/IMG]

Oct 18th, 2015 6:59 pm

fusion2k2k: Deal Addict; Apr 6, 2008; 1807 posts; 1164 upvotes

Oct 18th, 2015 6:59 pm

Was the yellow and the whites connected to the old light fixture? I'm guessing this a is a junction box with several wires and conduit running to it underneath the drywall. Different then your typical residential set up.

Oct 18th, 2015 11:17 pm

charlesd79: Deal Addict; Mar 7, 2011; 3716 posts; 1955 upvotes; Vancouver

Oct 18th, 2015 11:17 pm

I will assume your bunch of green wires is the ground, since they're also connected to the box, so those are the only ones you can connect to the green bolt/nut of the fixture.
Here's a quick answer : it doesn't matter how you connect the red and black wires, feel free to mix and match, since it will only work when you get it right ... but if it's a 3-way switch setup, like I suspect, it will take you some time to figure it out

Oct 19th, 2015 8:26 am

eldeejay: Deal Addict; Apr 22, 2014; 3097 posts; 472 upvotes; Oshawa, ON

Oct 19th, 2015 8:26 am

Turn off the power.
Try black to yellow, red to white, green to green.
If that doesn't work wait for someone that actually knows to answer.

+1

Oct 19th, 2015 10:05 am

don242: Deal Fanatic; Nov 19, 2004; 9121 posts; 2025 upvotes; Cambridge, ON

Oct 19th, 2015 10:05 am

Was there a light fixture there before? It may just be me, but the wiring doesn't even look proper guage. Are you sure these wires aren't just to do with the intercom, or something else nearby?

Oct 20th, 2015 1:27 am

charlesd79: Deal Addict; Mar 7, 2011; 3716 posts; 1955 upvotes; Vancouver

Oct 20th, 2015 1:27 am

don242 wrote: ↑It may just be me, but the wiring doesn't even look proper guage.

It's not. The wire looks like 20 or 18 AWG, and it should be at least 14.

Oct 20th, 2015 6:20 am

don242: Deal Fanatic; Nov 19, 2004; 9121 posts; 2025 upvotes; Cambridge, ON

Oct 20th, 2015 6:20 am

charlesd79 wrote: ↑It's not. The wire looks like 20 or 18 AWG, and it should be at least 14.

I'm pretty sure that this is a junction box for the intercom or similar. Not wiring for a light fixture.

Oct 25th, 2015 8:03 pm

Newbie456 [OP]: Newbie; Oct 17, 2015; 2 posts; East York, ON

Oct 25th, 2015 8:03 pm

Thanks all for all the replies! I tried to get a meter to test but the one I had wasn't working. Finally figured it out and installed it today. This was for a new condo so there was no previous light fixture.

I connected the yellow single wire to the black, the white ceiling wire to the red and the green to the green and works great now

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