Can't Tell Which Wires Is Hot Or Netural

Hello everyone,I have a question about a forklift battery charger i bought. Ok,its an exide forklift battery charger 36 volts. It weighs a ton so i am having to run a 25 foot extension cord to it. My question is,my 220 wall outlet has three holes so i went to lowes and made a 220 extension cord. Now i get to the ac cable coming out of the charger that hooks to the extension cord(plug was cut off),there are 4 wires coming out of the cable green,white,red, and black......the guy at lowes said i could buy a 3 prong plug for it to plug into the female end of the extension cord because one of the 4 wires is probably neutral and i wouldnt have to hook up but the green,white and either the red or black.....is he right? Inside the charger the red,white and black all go to big fuses and green to ground. Also above the fuses it says "factory set to 480 volts ac". I guess my question is,will this charger only work using a 4 prong wall outlet(mine only has 3) and with 4 prong plug hooked to cable coming out of the charger itself or is the guy at lowes right in saying that only the red OR black wire has to be used? Sorry if this is confusing but ive searched and searched online for 3 days and havent found anything. Thanks in advance for any help-Kevin
      

Hello,



I took a shot at installing a ceiling fan for the first time and I would like to get advice if I did the wiring correctly. There were Black, Copper, Red, and White Wires coming from the ceiling. I read the instructions and connected the wires as stated on the manual. I was left with the Red wire. I called a friend up and he told me to connect the Red wires from ceiling to the Black Connections from Ceiling and Fan. The fan works but something is irking me inside thats telling me this is not safe. Could anyone with any know how in this subject guide me in the right direction?
      

Am doing a bathroom reno and installed a new fan. Original switch was a simple on off single pole. I want to install a DewPoint condensation fan switch that will turn on automatically at a certain moisture level.

The new switch as 4 wires. green ground, red fan, black power, and white neutral. I know the ground, but how do I hook up the neutral and fan to the existing fan set up?

There is a double pole light switch in the same box that has a couple wires to it, and there is a mass of whites that I am not sure where they go



Can I hook up the neutral somewhere else, or put it with the fan like a single pole? What do I do with this?



In the attached picture the switch on the right is the 2 pole light switch and on the left is the fan switch that I hope to replace.



Your Advice is appreciated
      

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!
      

Greetings!

I'm hoping for some help, I am replacing an old ceiling fan with a new one that has a remote control function.



I discovered in the box on the ceiling there were three wires coming in and capped off with a wire nut.  The previous fan was wired to two other white wires coming in, and the fan is on a switch.



The problem is when I wire the new fan the same way the old one was, it does not have power.



When I wire it to the three capped off wires instead, no power either.



When I wire all of them together (gasp!) It shorts out at the breaker.



Any ideas on how to wire this thing?



Thanks!
      

I have 2 light switches in my entry and need to add a 3rd. So…I removed the old 2-space metal box and will be replacing it with a 3-gang old-work box.



      The issue I’m anticipating having is: The old knob & tube wires coming in aren't very long. As the locations of the openings for the wires in the 3-gang box is a bit different than the old box, I’m worried that the wires now won’t be long enough to now reach the light switches. So, my questions are...



 

   If I need to add 6” or so to some of these wires, is it okay to just splice a new piece of 14-gauge wire onto them?? I simply didn't know if you're allowed to do this.


If so, is this just a matter of using a plastic twist cap to connect them…with everything being done inside the new box?


  Thanks so much for your advice.
      

Hello -



I'm attempting to install a new bathroom vent fan / light combo.  I pulled out the old one from the ceiling and am ready to install the new one.  I'm not sure how to wire up the new one.



The wire coming from the 2 Switches/Wall has the following 4 wires:  Black, White, Red, Bare Copper Ground



The wires coming from the Light/Fan Unit a

Light:  Black, White, Red

Fan:  Black, White

Fan/Light Housing:  Green Ground Wire



Any help would be appreciated.



Thanks!
      

I NEED TO UPDATE MY ELECTRICAL PANEL. I FIND THAT SOME OF MY NEUTRAL AND GROUND  AND HOT WIRES ARE A BIT SHORT OF REACHING THE GROUNDING  BAR AND FOR THE BREAKERS. HOW DO I EXTEND THESE WIRES? CAN I ADD PIG TAILS TO EACH WIRE, USING WIRE NUTS?



Thanks in advance for any help or reply
      

Hidy!

Hoping someone can guide me in the right direction. I have essentially no experience with electrical anything unless its a computer, and I am remodeling my Mother's guest room. We picked a pendant light to replace the old flushmount lighting. I've got the old one removed (and yes I have the power off in the room ), and I cannot figure out how to do this based on the instructions given (or on any video I have watched).



There are two copper "wires" coming down from the ceiling. They are both wrapped in black insulation, and they form like a little hoop/circle on the end. The fixture has a copper wire, not insulated, and like a double copper wire insulated with brownish black coating. Sorry...I don't know technical terms here, but I would be happy to post pics.



I just need help installing this thing. I've done flooring and plumbing and everything else you can imagine a chcik might figure out how to do, but I am stumped here. Please help me do this! It doesn't seem like it should be this difficult!
      

So I recently bought a home.  There was an old rusted and rotted lamp post out front.  This past weekend it blew over in the wind.  Not kidding.   I turned off the circuit on our breaker box, i unscrewed the caps connecting the main wire to the lamp head. I removed the poll lamp head, can I just recap the single wires and roll the wire back into the ground?  Will just capping the wires be safe?