I would like to connect a new chandelier to the ceiling of my bedroom. The ceiling box has two cables:
- black, white, ground – none of these is hot
- black, white, red, ground – black on this cable is hot (120 V to ground)
The hot on cable 2 is not controlled from any wall switch (it seems as if it used to have a ceiling fan/light before). It is hot all the time; each switch checked in the house-none controls the power on this hot cable in the ceiling box.
OK, now there is also a wall switch in the same room that seem to be dead. It has three cables (each has black, white, and ground) and none of them is powered.
- black, white, ground – none of these is hot (entering the switch box from the above)
- black, white, ground – none of these is hot (entering the switch box from the above)
- black, white, ground – none of these is hot (entering the switch box from the below)
Cable 3 in the wall switch seems to be the same as cable 1 in the ceiling box (checked the resistance – 0.5 ohm on 1 and 3 probed, and 0.5 ohm when white on 1 and 3 probed)
I am wondering if I can utilize this dead wall switch to control the ceiling box power (and my new chandelier) without laying out additional cables inside the walls.
For example, I was thinking about using white (neutral) on cable 1 to bring hot to the wall switch (connect hot on cable 2 and white on cable 1) which would bring the hot down to the wall switch through 1-3, connect to the switch, and then bring the hot back to the ceiling box through the same cable 1/3). Then I would use black from 1 and white from 2 to power the chandelier.
Possible or is there any other more "professional" solution?
Best Answer
The core of your question is a standard wiring scenario: You have the hot coming through the load and the switch at the end. Your proposed wiring is correct. Diagrams are easy to find online, e.g.,
Of course you should be wary of cables (4) and (5): If they are properly terminated in the work box you can leave them. If they are wired into the switch right now you should disconnect them until you find something else in the house that is not receiving power but should, and then remember that you now have a hot in that junction box you can tap.