Hi folks,
I've been doing a lot of reading, but can't find the anwer to this.

I have a small lamp with 2 wires coming from it, black (hot) and white
(ground, I presume).

the spot in the wall where I want this to go, has 3 wires. Black (hot),
white (neutral), and copper (ground).

The lamp works if I attach the black wire from the wall, to the black
wire in the lamp - and the white wire from the lamp, to either the
copper or neutral wire in the wall. Which should I use from the wall -
white, or copper?

Thanks, I know this is a totally lame question... I appreciate the
help.

In article .com,
says...

Hi folks,
I've been doing a lot of reading, but can't find the anwer to this.

I have a small lamp with 2 wires coming from it, black (hot) and white
(ground, I presume).

the spot in the wall where I want this to go, has 3 wires. Black (hot),
white (neutral), and copper (ground).

The lamp works if I attach the black wire from the wall, to the black
wire in the lamp - and the white wire from the lamp, to either the
copper or neutral wire in the wall. Which should I use from the wall -
white, or copper?

Thanks, I know this is a totally lame question... I appreciate the
help.



The wires from the lamp are hot (black) and neutral (white). Attach them to the
same wires from the wall. The ground wire (bare copper or green insulation) is
for safety only, not to carry normal current.
--
Dennis

wrote in message

The lamp works if I attach the black wire from the wall, to the black
wire in the lamp - and the white wire from the lamp, to either the
copper or neutral wire in the wall. Which should I use from the wall -
white, or copper?

Thanks, I know this is a totally lame question... I appreciate the
help.

Short answer: use the white wire

Longer Answer: The white wire is part of hte electrical feed for power.
The bar wire is there to act as a ground. They may both seem to do the same
thing, but in actual function they differ. At times you see a green wire
for a ground. That goes tot he copper wire.

Wire is designated by numbers for both size and number of wires. 12-2 is 12
gauge and has two wires. 12-2 with ground has a black, white, and a bare
ground wire. 12-3 with ground has a black, white, red, and bare ground
wire.

Get a basic book on wiring to get a better understanding and you can learn
basic troubleshooting.

What Im making out of this is that you are planning to directly wire
the lamp to the wall outlet wiring? Are you planning on keeping it this
way?, or just testing the lamp? Is there a wall outlet? and is there a
plug for the lamp? You can go to your hardware store and get a plug for
the lamp and a wall outlet and install these. Just remember that the
white wire goes to the silver screw and the black wire to the gold
screw.

also, check out this site, some explanations for do-it-yourselfers.

http://www.electrical-online.com/

wrote:
Hi folks,
I've been doing a lot of reading, but can't find the anwer to this.

I have a small lamp with 2 wires coming from it, black (hot) and white
(ground, I presume).

the spot in the wall where I want this to go, has 3 wires. Black
(hot), white (neutral), and copper (ground).

The lamp works if I attach the black wire from the wall, to the black
wire in the lamp - and the white wire from the lamp, to either the
copper or neutral wire in the wall. Which should I use from the wall -
white, or copper?

Thanks, I know this is a totally lame question... I appreciate the
help.


Just for the record, this is a fixed (wall or ceiling mount) light, I
hope. You should never be direct wiring any other kind of light.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

White
wrote:
Hi folks,
I've been doing a lot of reading, but can't find the anwer to this.

I have a small lamp with 2 wires coming from it, black (hot) and white
(ground, I presume).

the spot in the wall where I want this to go, has 3 wires. Black (hot),
white (neutral), and copper (ground).

The lamp works if I attach the black wire from the wall, to the black
wire in the lamp - and the white wire from the lamp, to either the
copper or neutral wire in the wall. Which should I use from the wall -
white, or copper?

Thanks, I know this is a totally lame question... I appreciate the
help.

Thanks for the responses. Yes, this is for a ceiling mounted light...

I understand now, thanks again!



wrote:
Hi folks,
I've been doing a lot of reading, but can't find the anwer to this.

I have a small lamp with 2 wires coming from it, black (hot) and white
(ground, I presume).

the spot in the wall where I want this to go, has 3 wires. Black (hot),
white (neutral), and copper (ground).

The lamp works if I attach the black wire from the wall, to the black
wire in the lamp - and the white wire from the lamp, to either the
copper or neutral wire in the wall. Which should I use from the wall -
white, or copper?

Thanks, I know this is a totally lame question... I appreciate the
help.