Delay When Turning On Light Switch

I'm installing a new light in a closet with an in-line switch. Because of the build of my house, a mid-run receptacle is the only power source available without ripping open a bunch of wall and ceiling. I've got everything installed and tied into the receptacle with appropriate pig tails, but whenever I turn the power back on, the breaker for that circuit instantly flips. I've double-checked all the connections and wires, and they are connected to the appropriate terminals. Tied the pig tails into the terminals on the top socket of the receptacle.



Could this be the result of a faulty switch? The breaker trips whether the switch is in the off or on position, and there are no bulbs in the light fixture. I'm stumped. The receptacle in question is rarely used, and I've powered off everything else in the room to be on the safe side, but the breaker trips.
      

Hi everyone,



I'm pretty new to the whole homeowning/do it yourself lifestyle, and have a question about the light fixture in my kitchen.  Recently 2 twisted cfl bulbs went out, probably within 1-2 days of each other, and I am having a hard time figuring out how to replace the bulb.  I believe the lights in my kitchen are considered recessed lighting.



So when the first light went out, I hastily grabbed my step ladder and tried to twist the bulb out.  I should have looked more closely at the fixture because when I started to twist, the bulb popped in my hand.  No big deal, just a bunch of debris all over the place.  I looked at the fixture and it said I should pull straight down to remove.  Doh!  The second light went out a day or two later and this time I pulled straight down on the bulb to remove.  To my surprise the bulb came out, but at the ends of the bulb were 2 bare wires.  I had never seen this bulb in stores before.



Anyways here are some pictures I took of my fixture.  Can anyone tell me how I am to replace my busted bulbs?  Thanks!












      

I have a pendant light over my kitchen sink, it's been in place for about 8 months. It seems to burn out bulbs a little quick, and they're usually a white smokey look when they do burn out.  Also, the cable next to the light is turning from a clear to a brown. I'm not sure if it's just from heat, and is ok... or if it's a hazard?  I don't see any evidence of melting on the cable or in the light socket.



I checked voltage, and it's around 121.5.  The fixture uses 60 watt max candalabra bulbs, and that's what I use in it.
      

I have an outdoor light fixture that I am trying to replace.  The house was built ten years ago.



When I removed the original lamp, I noticed one of the two leads was wired to the ground, and one was wired to the black wire, which is hot per my current sensor.  There are three wires in the box - black, ground (bare copper), and white or neutral, all from a single romex cable.  Unfortunately, I do not recall where the white was when I removed the original. 



I wired the new lamp per the instructions, something I have done many times before - black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Nothing.  The lamp and bulbs are brand new, and I have tried four separate bulbs.  I checked the black and neutral with my current sensor and with the switch on and the lamp installed this way, both show as hot. With the lamp not installed, the switch on, and the wires disconnected only the black shows as hot.  The switch is single pole, and appears to be wired correctly with a black to each screw on one side and a copper ground on the other.



Assuming the new fixture was bad, I reinstalled the old fixture correctly -  black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Still nothing. No light, and I confirmed the bulb is good by putting it in another lamp.   The only way to get it to light is to connect the neutral in the lamp to the bare copper ground.



I capped the wires, turned the circuit back on, and identified all the outlets, switches and fixtures on the same circuit.  I opened every one of them up (four lights and eight outlets) and found three (one switch and two fixtures in another room) where multiple commons connect.  All were properly connected.  My outlet tester shows all outlets as "correct".  I found no instances of grounds connected to commons or vice-versa.



Any ideas?  Is it proper to wire this thing the way I found it?



Thanks for any and all advice!
      

I have a kind of strange question:  How many watts is a 2x40W incandescent bulb?  Is it 40W?  Why is there a '2x' before 40W?



One of the bulbs in my light fixture above the bathroom sink burned out.  The light fixture uses three bulbs (decorative globe type).  I uncrewed the bad bulb, and it says '2x40W' on the base of the bulb (the metal part).  I went to Home Depot and they have the bulb type in 40W and 60W but both say 1x (1x40W and 1x60W).  The electrician at Home Depot wasn't sure what 2x could refer to on my bulb and suggested it might be that my bad bulb was in a 2-pack package.  Is that it?
      

Hello. I'm a new home owner and DIY-er. I have 3 fluorescent lights  in my basement. I just replaced the fixtures' older ballasts with new  T8 ballasts in the first two lights and they work fine. I am having  trouble with the third light's wiring to the ceiling. I cut and removed  the old ballast without paying much attention because I was able to wire  the first two lights without any problem. I connected the new ballast  to the bulb sockets in the fixture, just like I did with the first two  lights. When I went to connect the ballast's black and white power lines  to the ceiling lines, I was thrown off by a red wire, which I guess is  connected to the light switch.  In addition, this light is connected to  the one of the other fluorescent lights and both are controlled by the  switch. I have attached  pictures of how I have it wired.



The way I have it wired now,  the other light turns on and works fine when the switch is flipped.  However, this light has the bulb flicker and then not turn on. If anyone  can tell what I'm doing wrong from looking at the pictures, I'd  appreciate any help! Thanks!
      

We had a pipe disconnect above the downstairs bathroom and the ceiling just about came down, so I decided since it was a hedious looking space, that it was a sign from the gods: Reno time!



Im now at the wiring stage. Originally there was a junction box with a light fixture out one side and a single pole switch(no ground screw...grnd wire attached to the box)on  the other. Typical set up: white from switch marked "hot" or "black" at both ends, and spliced with the incoming power's black wire. Then remaining blacks are spliced together as are the remaining whites... grounded accordingly.



What Im trying to do now is add a GFCI receptical to the mix. But Im having some trouble figuring it all out. NOTE: light fixture is not installed yet, just the wire for it with the ends capped off with a wire nut on each of the wires (Wht/Black/Grnd)



First, whats in the walls: Circuits on a 15 AMP fuse with older (but not the oldest) 12/2 wire with a blue weaved fiber outside cover. Still looks to be in great shape. I've continued using newer, yellow (Lomex or Romex?) 12/2 from homedepot as I've read that you should not mix 14 and 12 together.

All that is on the cicuit is 3 pot lights with 65w bulbs, single bulb on the stairway and what ever goes in the bathroom, so from my math, there should be plenty of room left on the circuit.



What I've tried so far:

A: I spliced the "hot"/"black" white wire from the switch to the incoming power's black, like before. Then I spliced all remaining blacks together with a wire nut, then the same with all remaining whites and then all grounds (did not attach any grnd wire to the Junction box).



Result, Nothing. After switching on the power, I tested the GFCI with a voltage tester as well as the switch and got no read.



B: Undid everything, re-spliced all like to like: all blck together, all white together..etc.



Result: Fuse trips.



Im no electrician, which I imagine is blatantly obvious from the above post, but I am following a Homedepot wiring manual, its just that what Im trying to do is not really addressed in the book... at least not directly. So I've been trying to figure it out by reading every single page, but Im still at a loss.



I've attached a very basic diagram of what is there right now. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

John
      

Hi All,



Need to replace an old faulty two switch fixture in the bathroom (light and exhaust fan). Right now, each switch on the single fixture separately operates either the light or the fan, regardless of the position of the other switch. Want to keep things that way. 



Here is a picture of the old fixture's wiring: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1179096/photo1.jpg



To replace this fixture, I bought to the Leviton 5634 (design diagram he  http://communities.leviton.com/servl...224%205634.pdf)



Unfortunately, what is confusing me is the the different designs between the two fixtures and the fact that the original unit seems to have some kind of patch or cross over type wire connecting the top and the bottom switches (see photo link above).



Any help/advice on how to wire this new fixture based on the picture of the current wiring configuration would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!
      

Hey guys and gals,



got a very odd dilemma, in my dining room there is a chandelier lamp that is controlled through a dimmer switch(even though it is not a dimmer). There is also a closet with a light switch as well.



The odd circumstance i am having is when the closet light is on(via its own switch), and you turn on the dinning room light, the closet light goes out. Then if you turn the dining room light off,the closet light turns back on.



The closest light switch has zero effect on the dining room light, the dining room light seems to have control over the closet light and dining room light.



Any ideas on a fix. I was thing just replacing the dimmer(once again does not actually dim) with a single pole interrupter. I just dont want to burn my house down
      

I am going to install some can lights throughout the house soon.  I have one light in the center of each room that is already wired up.  I will be patching the existing light boxes up to run the new can lights, utilizing the wiring that is already present. 



When hooking the extra lights up should I use 12/2 or 14/2 wire for running them in parallel?  There will probably be no more than 3 or 4 can lights per room ran with CFLs.  The current lights that are in each room take up to 3 bulbs per fixture.