In my bathroom, I had an old wall lamp hanging above the mirror, that was connected to a junction box. I dismounted the old lamp and didn't pay attention to which wires it was connected. Now I need to connect a new lamp and I don't know which wires from the junction box should be used.
The photo of the junction box is below. There is one strand of wires (black, white, ground) coming from the top, and two strands of wires coming from the bottom. All black wires are connected together, and all ground wires are connected together. Now, white wires — it looks like only two of them were connected, though I'm not sure about that — maybe one disconnected from other two when I dismounted the old lamp. So the question is: which wires should I use to connect my lamp?
Additional detail: there is a two-way switch on the wall that controls the lamp. The new lamp has standard white, black and ground wires.
Best Answer
First recommendation; put labels on stuff. Sorry, nobody needs a Monday Morning Quarterback.
Do you have a meter? I would try metering out which wire gets voltage with the lightswitch going on and off.
My guess, based on the two way switch, is that the three black wires are; Line ( from the breaker ), feed to the outlet, and feed to the switch. The two whites in the wirenut would be the Neutral to the breaker box, and the outlet. I am guessing that the single white wire is a carrier from the switch, or in your case, switches. With this premise in mind I would check the voltage with a meter on the single white against ground while blinking the switch. If the meter blinks with the switch, then put the fixture black onto this wire, and white with the wirenuted whites.
If this guess is wrong, I have more questions. Did / does the outlet loose power when the lightswitch is off? If yes, then it's probably wired with all blacks together and all whites together. But again, I'd check with a meter before closing in all the boxes.
good luck, let us know the outcome