How can I properly wire a new light fixture in my 1976 house with multiple wires and a two-way switch to avoid the light staying on regardless of switch position?
My house was built in 1976 and I’m on a mission to replace the most hideous light fixture ever! It’s connected to a two-way switch, and I’ve been experimenting with different wire combinations to get it working properly. In my ceiling, I have 4 wires (ground, red-coated copper, thick black bundle, and thick white bundle). The new light fixture has 3 wires (white, black, copper).
I’ve tried a few combos, like black to black, white to white, copper to ground, but the light stays on no matter what. Then I attempted black to red, white to white, copper to ground, and only one switch works. Lastly, I tied black and red from the ceiling with black from the fixture, white to white, copper to ground, and the light stayed on.
Any suggestions on what I should try next?
An electrician’s multitester.
Do you have any clue about how it was connected before you disassembled it?
Haha no way! I actually started working on this 6 months ago. The fixture I purchased was damaged, so I returned it. Unfortunately, they were out of replacements, so I waited until I found a new one. I kind of procrastinated on installing it until now. By the way, the old fixture only has 2 wires coming from it!
Hey, the old fixture might not have had a ground wire, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I would suggest checking to see if there is another red wire up there
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It’s a bit tricky to see in the photo, but I think your setup might be similar to this. Could you remove the mount and bring down all the wires for a clearer picture with better lighting?
Hey ! I was actually thinking of suggesting looking for a different red wire haha
This could be another possibility. Maybe take a look at your switches and see what the connections look like
True, it does seem strange to have just one red wire with a 3-way setup
Yep, I’ve searched and there’s only one red wire
Got it, if you don’t see a second red wire, you might have a setup like this. You’ll probably need to tidy up the connections with the black, white wires, and make sure the wire nuts are big enough to create a secure connection
You could attempt connecting the red wire with the two white wires, and the black wire with the other black wire, and the ground wires together. Usually, that red wire goes from one switch to another.
That’s the reason why x is not so great.
You’ve already figured out some of your questions. when you linked black to black, wh/wh the light stayed on, so that means the black wire is live and the white wire is neutral. The red wire is controlled by a 3-way switch and turns on, while the other does not. I believe one of the 3-way switches might not be wired correctly. Have you made any changes to the switches? The red wire should connect to the live wire of the light fixture, check the wiring on each switch.