<p>GGD, yes, I meant neutral when I said natural. </p>
<p>DadX, I am going to try wiring only the Hot (black) and neutral (white) to the light fixture. Will use the electric tape to wrap around the bare ground wire. </p>
<p>Now its about dinner time and I will report back afterward. Thanks.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>possible. But when one has to count pennies for food. You know… …</p>
<p>
While doing that will make the light appear to function properly since it’s dependent only on the black and white wires in order to turn on/off, not connecting the ground wire to the fixture presents a safety issue. </p>
<p>If either the black or the white wire ends up shorting against the metal fixture (or bulb socket or any other metal part) then that part becomes ‘live’ and then when someone touches it they can be shocked or electrocuted. That’s why the green or bare copper ground wire s/b connected to the fixture. The light will likely turn on/off just fine when one of the wires is shorted against it so you’ll only know of the problem when you get shocked unless you connect the ground which will cause the breaker to trip which is a safe way to know something’s wrong.</p>
<p>Hint - a standard light fixture will often have only two wires coming from it, the black and white wires, but that ‘extra wire’ from the supply, the ground wire you have from the switch, gets connected to a metal screw on the fixture. Look for a metal screw on the metal fixture. If you have one, then the ground wire gets connected to this.</p>
<p>Examine some of those light fixtures at Home Depot more closely and you may find this ground wire or ground screw.</p>
<p>You can also ask the Home Depot lighting department person about the ground wire/screw. They often know about this but be careful because sometimes the person is from the garden or lumber department and knows nothing about electrical circuits. You also could have tried asking one of the electricians who was wandering around there when you were there. Both of these consultations aren’t that reliable and a licensed electrician is more reliable but it sounds as if you’re determined not to hire one. Try doing some more googling - like “how to wire a ceiling light” and variants of that and review at least 3 of the instructional sites/videos.</p>
<p>Not sure if I should start my own thread, but we have flourescent lights in our basement that are very wonky. Sometimes they go on sometimes they don’t. If I turn on and off the switch eventually I can get them to go on. Is the problem likely to be with the switch or the lamps, or even the bulbs…</p>
<p>^^ Mathmom:</p>
<p>The problem is almost certainly with the lights themselves - usually the ballast/starter circuit. Sometimes it can be the bulbs as well where if you replace the bulbs it works better. Are these built-in lights, the added on 4 ft long 2 or 4 bulb fluorescent lights (like ‘shop lights’), or something else? Depending on what you have the easiest thing is to replace the bulbs if you haven’t already done so but if that doesn’t solve the problem then replace the whole fixture if they’re of the inexpensive added on shop light variety or replace the ballast if they’re the built-in variety.</p>
<p>It almost certainly isn’t the light switch or wiring.</p>
<p>DadII…please. You are not scrimping on food. Please consider the safety of those who reside in your house. Also consider that when you go to sell eventually, an inspection will turn up your shoddy work and you will need to pay to have it fixed or lower your price. </p>
<p>Why not get it done properly for YOUR family.</p>
<p>And I was not kidding. If wiring the ceiling light isn’t someone thing you CAN do safely, then seriously…get a floor lamp and plug it into an outlet.</p>
<p>Better safe than sorry.</p>
<p>Cut back on the photo equipment or the trips to the Caribbean and hire a trained professional to fix your wiring. Really. Good grief.</p>
<p>Ya seriously-
There are real families in this country who struggle to feed their families.
Food banks do not have sufficient resources to help all of them.
By tossing words like “poor” around so lightly its clear that you have NO IDEA what that even means.</p>
<p>Adults put their families needs before wants like toys and vacations.
Legal wiring would be a need.</p>
<p>More like shop lights with covers. Surface mounted. I replaced at least some bulbs a while back and they worked better for a while, but I’ve been figuring that just replacing fixtures is the best bet. They almost certainly date back to the 70s, or whenever putting bars in your basement, acoustic tiles on the ceiling and fake paneling on the walls was popular. I think they’d be easy to replace. </p>
<p>Replacing fixtures we can handle. Dad II’s issues with GFI stuff sounds like something I’d have an electrician handle for sure.</p>
<p>Heck of a forum to post electrical questions.</p>
<p>There is no reason to be afraid to do some types of home electrical work. This is true if you are starting with a sound system, wired by a pro and inspected. Adding breakers and circuits to a sound system is “cookbook” and a handy person is capable of safely doing electrical work. There are do-it-yourself books that will guide you.</p>
<p>Where wiring gets tricky is when one is working on a system that has been mangled by an incompetent amateur. If one finds sketchy conditions–and one has too guess at how something was wired, I’d play it safe and call a pro.</p>
<p>I would be afraid of doing electrical work, I would be afraid of someone cutting corners to save $.25</p>
<p>First of all, many thanks for those who gave technical support and everyone else for concern of our life. </p>
<p>Update.</p>
<p>Hooked up the light fixture with only two wires, turn the switch on and everything works. </p>
<p>The fixture is made of insulated material - not metal. However, this low cost version does not come with any cover so the wirings are all exposed. So I tape up the exposed connections. With only a new energy saving light bulb of 20W, there is minimum load on this side. Because everything is either made from an insulated material or covered up with black electric tape. There is no chance of anyone gets shocked.</p>
<p>Bottom line, folks, it is a job of putting two wires on a fixture. Please don’t over thinking about this. Once the diagnostics is done (old ballast is dead) and the understanding of grounding is reached, the actual connection took 15 minutes.</p>
<p>There are people who is afraid to do home improvements, be electrical, carpentry, roofing or plumbing. But there are others who is the Diy type. Each of us have our choice of interest and should be respected.</p>
<p>True story…when we bought our first house, it was noted that there had been a repaired leak in a faucet. It was NOT leaking when we saw the house. The owners said “they had had it fixed”. We asked to see the invoice from the licensed and insured plumber who “did the work”. They couldn’t seem to find a receipt…it was a DIY job. We asked THEM to pay for a licensed and insured plumber to look at the job and verify that it was done properly. They really bristled, but we were prepared to walk away from the purchase. So…they had a plumber come and re do the work…cost them more than it would have if done initially…plus add in the DIY costs.</p>
<p>I would do the same thing with questionable oddball wiring.</p>
<p>You can jerrywrig wiring and It will work. That doesn’t mean it is safe, or the right thing to do.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Indeed. I just read this morning that someone was electrocuted by plugging her iphone into the wall. </p>
<p>Going by the accounts I’ve heard from friends who are 20+year licensed electricians who had to clean up/repair shoddy DIY wiring, one extremely likely cause…shoddily/poorly done electrical wiring not done to code.</p>
<p>I get the part about DIY. I just kept looking for something that explained various folks’ actual training. I can explain why heaters need to be connected straight into outlets and why my plug fused to the adaptor, sound pretty darned savvy. I can change an outlet. And read the NEC. But. You don’t want my advice.</p>
<p>Not a diss of anyone.</p>
<p>
Oh, come on, cobrat – more friends? And not just one friend who’s an electrician, but several who are 20+ year licensed electricians? It’s simply not possible that you have a friend or a cousin who has some type of experience in every single topic in every single thread that you post in. I really can’t take your posts seriously anymore.</p>
<p>
LOL T1. I would assume you are not doing that for your 2nd house no more. Unless you are telling me that every single repairs you need for your home and cars are all done by someone else. That you (means everyone in your family) have not ever done any corrective action on your home and cars, ever.</p>
<p>How about changing oil, change a leaking faucet cartridge, or putting in a new bathroom exhaust?</p>
<p>Side story. The check engine light of our old minivan was on. Using my own OBD Ii reader I pull a P0455 code. Upon searching the YouTube, I found a clip made by a probably 10 year old boy. He showed a simple method other than the traditional “smoke” method to find the leak. I followed that and found the busted canister tube. With a $7 dealer part, I was able to fix that vapor leak. </p>
<p>I have repaired my lawn mower’s self propelling system, installed many new electrical fixtures and repaired numerous pluming issues. </p>
<p>In selling our last home, the buyer wanted over $3000 for fixing all the problems found. DW and I fixed everything in two days with about $60 worth of parts from Home depot.</p>
<p>
You were going to walk from a multi-hundred-thousand dollar purchase over a $50 repair?</p>
<p>That make zero sense to me.</p>
<p>Is there a general sense here that DIY is of not good? I would assume at least 90% of the Americans do some sort of DIY. That is how Home depot, advanced auto parts, and other stores make their $$. </p>
<p>I would say if I add up savings from all my DIY works - auto, cars, camera equipment, etc., the amount could be in the range of full tuition bill for a whole year. Beside, the joy of a job finally done is beyond words.</p>