The wiring is suspended on the ceiling inside a metal tube that connects to each light socket and set of outlets at independent metal junction boxes. The first light in the chain finally stopped working the other day a couple years after the second and other lights down the chain kept blowing out new bulbs as they were used for the first time. Something must be wired improperly since I cannot get any power at the switch or bulb sockets while there is power at the fuse box. How do I properly wire this? Should I get new wiring with a third wire for ground? If so, where should it be grounded to and what will the wiring look like at the junction for the switch and first light socket and down the line to the other lights and outlets? The fuse box is an old 30 AMP unit that uses fuses.
Electrical – How to rewire this circuit controlling several lights and receptacles
electricalswitchwiring
Related Solutions
Here's a quick ascii art diagram of what you need to have:
Power source First Light Second Light Switch
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| + white/neutral ----+---------+ | | |
| | | | |
| +-- red/switched -+--------+ |
| |
+------- black/hot-------------------------------+
Between the second light and the switch, you can run a 2 wire line (just replace the red line with the white and tape the ends of the white with black tape to indicate it's a switched hot). However, between the first and second light, you'll need a 3 wire line to handle the hot/neutral/switched combination.
All sorted now, basically I have a plastic back box but the earths have a connector on them. The Loop N terminals are for convenience, so I've just bought a connector block to connect them up. The L1 and Coms just need to have the same wiring on the new dimmer switch. I've not done it yet but got my answer from another forum.
Best Answer
You have an aged system that is seriously compromised. Based on the question, you seem to have little experience with eletrical work. It is usually better for a novice to begin with straighforward tasks on a healthy system.
I would strongly urge you to bring in a professional. As other have suggested, a full upgrade to the service panel and the wiring is highly desirable. While it may be possible to cure the current problem without a full ovehaul, you need someone very knowledgable with the right equipment to ensure that the repair is sound and safe.