I am replacing a ceiling fan controlled by a dimmer switch ( both the fan and the light are controlled by the switch ) to a regular light fixture controlled by a regular light switch in my dining room. I have 4 black wires and 4 white wires coming out of the ceiling and just 1 black wire and 1 white wire going to the dimmer switch. Also, I have found out that my lights to the kitchen light fixture, downstairs and the bathroom are feeding off of these wires also. I thought I had it hooked up right from taking the ceiling fan down, but when I flipped the regular light switch it didn't work. The other light in the kitchen was working. Could the problem be that I am using a single pole light switch? Help........
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Here's what you've probably
jeffe_verde writes:
Fri, 04/27/2007 - 2:28am
-One pair is the power in
-One pair is the "switch loop" and leads to the switch in the dining room.
-The other two *probably* go to the kitchen and bath room lights, and were originally connected to the power in to supply power to those lights.
Am I correct in assuming that you disconnected all the wires, and now you don't know which wires go together? Do you recall if all the blacks were connected together before you disconnected anything? If so, that confirms the above, and the only challenge is determining which pair goes to the dining room switch.
To find the "hot" pair (power in), with all the wires seperated and a wire nut on each of the black wires (to minimize touch a "hot" wire and getting shocked) use a multimeter or circuit tester to determine which pair(s) is "hot" (energized). If the above scenario is correct, only one pair will be hot.
To find the diniing room switch pair, turn the affected kitchen and bathroom light switches OFF, and turn the dining room light switch ON. Set your multimeter to the continuity position, and check the three cold pairs for continuity. Only one pair should have continuity. Found it? Now turn off the dining switch to confirm that's really the right one - you should loose continiuty on that pair when you turn the switch off. Bend this pair to the side or mark them with colored electrical tape, and use a permanent marker to mark some bands on the white wire of that pair.
Now for the wiring-
-Connect all the blacks together
-Connect the all the whites together, EXCEPT the white (now black and white striped) wire that goes to the dining room switch (it's not really "white", it's actually a leg of a switch loop, and is hot when the switch is on). Also connect the white for the light fixture to this bunch.
-Connect the black/white wire from the switch to the black wire on the light fixture
That's it, you should have no loose wires left, and everything's back together. Turn the breaker back on and verify the kitchen and bath lights are working again, and that the new dining room light is working.
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