Members loosegroove Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 We finally took down our old, half working chandelier in our dining room to put up a new one. When I took it down, I noticed that there are no color coded wires coming from the ceiling, just two black cloth insulated ones (yup, our house is OLD built in 1915). How can I figure out which is Hot and which is Neutral. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mhuxtable Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Use a multimeter......that much I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BHz_econo Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 get a voltmeter.turn on the powertouch one of the wires with one of the post and the other post to a grounded piece of metal (the junction box or something) the hot one will show power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BHz_econo Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 oh and be careful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mhuxtable Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Bam there you go. And yes be careful don't die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members loosegroove Posted November 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Thanks bass_econo. Here's another issue. I don't think the junction box is grounded, I think it's just screwed into the floor joists. So I probably couldn't do what you said, right? Could I use one of those no-contact volt detectors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BHz_econo Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Thanks bass_econo. Here's another issue. I don't think the junction box is grounded, I think it's just screwed into the floor joists. So could I still do what you said. Could I use one of those no-contact volt detectors? Hmm I've never used a no-contact before. You can try just touching the junction box though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tron Murphy Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Ah, yes...you need a new canooter valve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Marshall Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Usually there is a bare wire attached to the junction box or fixture.If the wire is cloth and both the same color your wiring may not be grounded at all.Just hot and neutral. Neutral is basically split off from ground where it comes in you're house at the loadcenter/fusebox.If you have a long wire you could run it from there to the room you are working in and measure against that. But really if the whole thing is not grounded its probably best to run all new wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members placebo62 Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 or call an electrician Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bricks & Bones Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 or call an electrician It took eight replies to finally get the right answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oinkbanana Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 if it's just a light (no fan), does it really matter which way you re-wire it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brambulance Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 if it's just a light (no fan), does it really matter which way you re-wire it? I don't think it does... Afaik the flow of electricity shouldn't affect the ability of the light. But that's just me, with some minor electricity experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zender8 Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Depends on what sort of light you are installing. some might have electronic control gear which need correct polarity of active and neutral connections. Best thing to do is disconnect all the power and make sure that the cables aren't touching each other in any way. turn power back on and being very careful test each cable with a volt stick which glows when near voltage. the cable that makes it glow is your active. Please just be careful tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zender8 Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Ah, yes...you need a new canooter valve. and this also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urca Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 if it's just a light (no fan), does it really matter which way you re-wire it? Yes it does since the lines are polarized and the electron flow needs to go from hot to neutral if it's wired in reverse that would put the hot leg on the negative pole of the switch which could cause the switch's neutral leg to go hot when the switch is in it's reverse polarized state but only in the area of a few microhenries so it would not cause any damage to the outlet that's wired to the switch (assuming it's wired in double reverse parallel) but if it's wired in negative series it could shunt a few megafarads to ground and cause the junction box to develop a ground fault which could the light to backflow electrons into the ground stake and therefore make the switch (and the aforementioned outlet) become a phase locked loop at least until the flow subsides on the negative portion of the sinusoidal wave, I think you'd need an SCR to help verify this though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members claytonjohn18 Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Whoever said that it doesn't matter is right. It's a lightbulb, son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members claytonjohn18 Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 Yes it does since the lines are polarized and the electron flow needs to go from hot to neutral if it's wired in reverse that would put the hot leg on the negative pole of the switch which could cause the switch's neutral leg to go hot when the switch is in it's reverse polarized state but only in the area of a few microhenries so it would not cause any damage to the outlet that's wired to the switch (assuming it's wired in double reverse parallel) but if it's wired in negative series it could shunt a few megafarads to ground and cause the junction box to develop a ground fault which could the light to backflow electrons into the ground stake and therefore make the switch (and the aforementioned outlet) become a phase locked loop at least until the flow subsides on the negative portion of the sinusoidal wave, I think you'd need an SCR to help verify this though. This is the most intelligent run-on sentence I've ever heard. Nevermind what I said before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oinkbanana Posted November 4, 2011 Members Share Posted November 4, 2011 i can't tell if that's for real.& if it is, what if the switch is before the 'backwards wiring'? ie it's just the bulb that's backwards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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