After replacing the light bulb, the switch in the wall and the socket and the wiring within the fixture, my porch light still doesn't turn on.

I suspect that either there's:

1. a problem with the wiring in the switch box in the wall
2. a break or short in the wires between the switch and the fixture.

I have photos of the wiring in the switch box in the wall and the fixture's junction box.

How do I check the wiring?



Note: When I hook up the fixture to the wiring on a different switch, the light does turn on

On Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 9:34:12 AM UTC-5, GARYWC wrote:
After replacing the light bulb, the switch in the wall and the socket and the wiring within the fixture, my porch light still doesn't turn on.

I suspect that either there's:

1. a problem with the wiring in the switch box in the wall
2. a break or short in the wires between the switch and the fixture.

I have photos of the wiring in the switch box in the wall and the fixture's junction box.

How do I check the wiring?



Note: When I hook up the fixture to the wiring on a different switch, the light does turn on

A "short" condition would blow a breaker or have the light on all the time. I would suspect the fixture or the wiring under it. It is subjected to temperature changes that may vary contact through corrosion, or expansion and contraction.

On Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 10:34:12 AM UTC-4, GARYWC wrote:
After replacing the light bulb, the switch in the wall and the socket and the wiring within the fixture, my porch light still doesn't turn on.

I suspect that either there's:

1. a problem with the wiring in the switch box in the wall
2. a break or short in the wires between the switch and the fixture.

I have photos of the wiring in the switch box in the wall and the fixture's junction box.

How do I check the wiring?



Get a multimeter or even a cheap neon test light. See where
you have 120V between the hot and neutral and where it ends.

http://s1201.photobucket.com/user/gcotterl/slideshow/

One photo shows the outlet box; the other photo shows the switch box. Are the wires connected correctly?

(The dimmer switch at the bottom of the photo operates an interior light that works OK).

Solved!!

Tell us how!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On 8/20/16 5:34 PM, GARYWC wrote:
Solved!!

And???????

The identity of the culprit is more interesting than anything Trump
and HRC
said today.

On 8/20/16 6:34 PM, GARYWC wrote:
Solved!!


was it the loose white wire on the toggle switch ?

Originally, a white wire was attached to one screw on the switch and a black wire was attached to the other screw.

I disconnected the white wire and attached a previously unconnected red wire in the switch box to that screw. That solved the problem!

On 8/20/2016 7:34 AM, GARYWC wrote:
g in the switch box in the wall and the fixture's junction box.

How do I check the wiring?

Use yer tongue while standing in a bucket of water.

On 08/21/2016 08:14 AM, Colonel Edmund J. Burke wrote:
On 8/20/2016 7:34 AM, GARYWC wrote:
g in the switch box in the wall and the fixture's junction box.

How do I check the wiring?

Use yer tongue while standing in a bucket of water.


That works even better with some salt in the water :-)

--
Sign in a laundry: "Absolutely No Dying In The Machines"

On Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 8:11:40 PM UTC-4, GARYWC wrote:
Originally, a white wire was attached to one screw on the switch and a black wire was attached to the other screw.

I disconnected the white wire and attached a previously unconnected red wire in the switch box to that screw. That solved the problem!

First off, your OP did not make it clear that this fixture never worked. Did you just move into this
house? Do you have any idea who would have wired the switch in a manner that didnt work
and then just leave it that way?

Second, did you swap the wires and hope for the best? That IMHO is a really bad trouble
shooting technique, especially when electricy is involved. Do you have any idea *why* it
now works or are you simply content with the fact that it does?

Third, did you leave the now abondoned white wire just hanging in the switch box, uncapped
and unmarked, to confused either you or the next person who opens the switch box many
years in the future?

Fourth, please post those those pictures that you said you have. I'm really curious as to what
color wires are in the fixture's junction box.

Finally, if, as it appears to me at this time, all you did was swap two wires without any
understanding of why and without knowing how the circuit is wired and why it now works,
you *may* have created an unsafe situation. If it were me, I would want to understand
exactly how the circuit is wired and why there are extra wires in the switch box. I have
my suspicions as to why, but it's more important that *you* know why since you live
there.

your OP did not make it clear that this fixture never worked.
Answer: The subject of my OP is: My porch light NO LONGER turns on

Did you just move into this house?
Answer: No. I bought this condo new in 1972

Do you have any idea who would have wired the switch in a manner that didn't work and then just leave it that way?
Answer: The wiring must have been done by the builder in 1972

Did you swap the wires and hope for the best?
Answer: No, the solution was made by a responder to my post

Do you have any idea *why* it now works or are you simply content with the fact that it does?
Answer: The responder knew "why" it didn't work and why it now does.

Did you leave the now abondoned white wire just hanging in the switch box, uncapped and unmarked, to confused either you or the next person who opens the switch box many years in the future?
Answer: No, I capped the white wire per the responder.

Please post those those pictures that you said you have. I'm really curious as to what color wires are in the fixture's junction box.
Answer: I did post photos of the wires in the switch box and in the outlet box where the light fixture is mounted.

If, as it appears to me at this time, all you did was swap two wires without any understanding of why and without knowing how the circuit is wired and why it now works,
Answer: The responder knew what he was talking about

On Sunday, August 21, 2016 at 8:44:16 PM UTC-4, GARYWC wrote:
your OP did not make it clear that this fixture never worked.
Answer: The subject of my OP is: My porch light NO LONGER turns on

OK, here's why this make no sense from where I am sitting:

If the light work previously, then didn't and you were able to fix it
by swapping wires, how did it work beforehand? Did you take the wires
off at some point and rewire it incorrectly? (Nothing in this thread
indicates that you did that.)



Did you just move into this house?
Answer: No. I bought this condo new in 1972

Then, once again I have to ask: How did it come to be that the wires
in the fixture had to be swapped to fix a fixture that used to work but
then was no longer working? Wires may become unattached on their own,
but they don't usually swap places.


Do you have any idea who would have wired the switch in a manner that didn't work and then just leave it that way?
Answer: The wiring must have been done by the builder in 1972

Which wiring? The white wire on the fixture that used to work but then
was no longer working until you swap it for the red? (Do you see why
this is so confusing?)


Did you swap the wires and hope for the best?
Answer: No, the solution was made by a responder to my post

Not in this thread. There is not one solution offered except to
your question "How do I check the wiring?"

What responder are you referring to?


Do you have any idea *why* it now works or are you simply content with the fact that it does?
Answer: The responder knew "why" it didn't work and why it now does.

What responder are you referring to?


Did you leave the now abondoned white wire just hanging in the switch box, uncapped and unmarked, to confused either you or the next person who opens the switch box many years in the future?
Answer: No, I capped the white wire per the responder.

What responder are you referring to.


Please post those those pictures that you said you have. I'm really curious as to what color wires are in the fixture's junction box.
Answer: I did post photos of the wires in the switch box and in the outlet box where the light fixture is mounted.

Not in this thread.



If, as it appears to me at this time, all you did was swap two wires without any understanding of why and without knowing how the circuit is wired and why it now works,
Answer: The responder knew what he was talking about

What responder are you referring to?

On Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 10:34:12 AM UTC-4, GARYWC wrote:
After replacing the light bulb, the switch in the wall and the socket and the wiring within the fixture, my porch light still doesn't turn on.

I suspect that either there's:

I'm going to make a guess.

"After replacing the snip switch in the wall?

That switch was changed out. You did that. You put the wrong wire on the screw.

Second guess. Why is there a red wire at all? Switches usually have a black wire.

Except when they are a three way switch.

So my second guess, you replaced one three way switch with what you thought was an identical one. But it wasn't identical. The traveler screw was in a different place. (This problem bit me the last time I replaced a 3-way. The new one had three screws in exactly the same places, but I failed to look closely and notice the screw colors were different. So I connected it wrong the first time.)

Hey, just guessing. Normally wires don't swap themselves.

On Sunday, August 21, 2016 at 11:31:00 PM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Sunday, August 21, 2016 at 8:44:16 PM UTC-4, GARYWC wrote:
your OP did not make it clear that this fixture never worked.
Answer: The subject of my OP is: My porch light NO LONGER turns on

OK, here's why this make no sense from where I am sitting:

If the light work previously, then didn't and you were able to fix it
by swapping wires, how did it work beforehand? Did you take the wires
off at some point and rewire it incorrectly? (Nothing in this thread
indicates that you did that.)


Agree. A white wire didn't get switched for a red wire by
itself. He did say that:

"After replacing the light bulb, the switch in the wall and the socket and the wiring within the fixture"

So, I would assume that he managed to mix up wires in the process.
You would think when you have different color wires to work with,
apparently an extra white wire, that you'd write down which goes
where before taking it apart, especially when you don't know how
to debug it if you screw up, but apparently he didn't. Even
so, there are usually some indications of which wire was connected,
ie a loop in the end of one to go around the screw, etc.





Did you just move into this house?
Answer: No. I bought this condo new in 1972

Then, once again I have to ask: How did it come to be that the wires
in the fixture had to be swapped to fix a fixture that used to work but
then was no longer working? Wires may become unattached on their own,
but they don't usually swap places.


Do you have any idea who would have wired the switch in a manner that didn't work and then just leave it that way?
Answer: The wiring must have been done by the builder in 1972

Which wiring? The white wire on the fixture that used to work but then
was no longer working until you swap it for the red? (Do you see why
this is so confusing?)


Did you swap the wires and hope for the best?
Answer: No, the solution was made by a responder to my post

Not in this thread. There is not one solution offered except to
your question "How do I check the wiring?"

What responder are you referring to?


Agree, there wasn't even a discussion about any extra white wire here.
And if you have something that isn't working and you had an extra white
wire that you were not sure about, you'd think that would be in the
first post. Something like, I replaced the switch, there is an extra
red wire in the box, I don't think that went to the switch, but
maybe it did and I have it mixed up.




Do you have any idea *why* it now works or are you simply content with the fact that it does?
Answer: The responder knew "why" it didn't work and why it now does.

What responder are you referring to?


Unless they are a mind reader, we all know whoever this person is,
they couldn't "know", at best they made an educated guess, that
it would be normal for a red wire to be connected to a switch,
an untaped white wire, not so much.




Did you leave the now abondoned white wire just hanging in the switch box, uncapped and unmarked, to confused either you or the next person who opens the switch box many years in the future?
Answer: No, I capped the white wire per the responder.

What responder are you referring to.


Please post those those pictures that you said you have. I'm really curious as to what color wires are in the fixture's junction box.
Answer: I did post photos of the wires in the switch box and in the outlet box where the light fixture is mounted.

Not in this thread.


+1

TimR
Mon, 22
Aug 2016 12:47:58 GMT in alt.home.repair, wrote:

So my second guess, you replaced one three way switch with what
you thought was an identical one. But it wasn't identical. The
traveler screw was in a different place. (This problem bit me the
last time I replaced a 3-way. The new one had three screws in
exactly the same places, but I failed to look closely and notice
the screw colors were different. So I connected it wrong the
first time.)

You can't really assume that just because the terminals appear to be
in the same place that they still represent the same things as on the
original switch. You should instead, be looking for the odd screw
out. The ones that look the same on a new switch will be the
travelers.

If you have a meter and/or ticker and don't mind initially checking
the circuit hot, you can find out which ones are the travelers using
one of the tools. Pretty easy. Useful in the event you weren't the
one who removed the original switch and forgot to mark the wires as
they did so. I'm notorious about using a small piece of white
electrical tape wrapped like a sticker so that I can write on it,
clearly IDing what the wire is for. it's a habit another electrician
taught me years ago. Good habit, imo.

Hey, just guessing. Normally wires don't swap themselves.

I like your guess work. Sounds about right.


--
MID:
Hmmm. I most certainly don't understand how I can access a copy of a
zip file but then not be able to unzip it so I can watch it. That
seems VERY clever!
http://al.howardknight.net/msgid.cgi?ID=145716711400