I have a modern external light fixture that needs to be attached to an existing exterior electrical 'box'. The older parts of the house have knob & tube wiring and there is evidence of gas plumbing for lighting before the knob & tube was installed. Here, i think but am not certain, it appears as if the knob & tube comes into a 'box' around an old gas line (see photo) but I may be mistaken.
The instructions say to attach:
- white to white
- black to black
- exposed wire to ground
but all i have are two old wires wrapped in what appears to be cloth. the cloth has become quite brittle.
So, how does one go about, safely, installing the new fixture?
Edit: More pictures as requested:
Best Answer
The correct answer is: Redo the wiring all the way back to the panel.
The workable answer is: The wire with the black stripe on the insulation is BLACK. The other one is white. The junction box is probably not grounded, but I'd attach the ground wire of the light to the junction box anyways.
Safety wise, the ground isn't entirely necessary on a ceiling light as it is pretty unlikely that anyone will touch it.
But seriously, consider replacing the wire right back to the panel. It can be a pain to pull it, but modern wiring is much safer.