I am installing a new light fixture in my bedroom ceiling. Up in the attic, at the fixture there are three copperish looking wires (wrapped in cloth tape) coming in from different directions. I can tell one is the switch cause it goes cold when the switch is off. The other two are hot. Does this make sense?
I've tested one of the hot wires going to black on the fixture and the other to white. That did not work. I switched it around and it lit the fixture. Now my question is what to do with the switch wire? does it go to black or white on the fixture? I tried black and it shorts out when i flip the switch on. I think that when the previous fixture was connected I think one of the hot wires was not even connected to the fixture — just capped. but i could be wrong. this is SO confusing.
I should also mention that it seems like some of the switches in the other bedrooms are interconnected. I can tell because at one point in my trial and error, a switch in one bedroom was turning off lights in another room. Ugh! Oh the joys of living in an old house!
Best Answer
Do not trust the voltage pen to be accurate. I've seen them light up when I have had the entire house power turned off. I got out a real mulit-meter, and it showed that it was dead. Even though the voltage stick still lit up. Verify with an actual meter. This very well might change the story.