Need help wiring recessed lighting.

[Frank Mejias]

Sorry for the long post!
I'm remodeling my basement and am at the electrical phase of the project. I've got 4 can (recessed) lights that I would like to control from a single switch but am unsure of the wiring. I've got a diagram on how to wire a single fixture to a single switch. Using 12/2 wire and power running to the fixture first it looks like this:

From panel into can:
Feed ground wire splices into can ground
Feed nuetral wire splices into can nuetral (stops here)
Feed hot wire bypasses can and splices into nuetral wire running to switch

From can into 12/2 running to switch:
Can ground wire splices into ground going to switch
Can hot splices into hot going to switch

Other end of 12/2 at the switch:
Ground connects to ground terminal
Nuetral connects to terminal
Hot connects to terminal

It seems simple but how would I connect 3 other cans in between the first can and the switch? And more importantly, what can will have the neutral wire feed going into it?

[John Nelson]

You've described a typical switch loop wiring. Many DIYers find this confusing, which is why I usually recommend DIYers run the power cable to the switch first rather than to the light first (especially when more than one light is involved). It's harder to mess it up that way. But we can make this work as you have it.

Feed hot wire bypasses can and splices into nuetral wire running to switchThis is correct wiring, but I will offer a terminology correction. It is incorrect to refer to the white wire running to the switch as a "neutral". It is "white", but it is not a "neutral".

how would I connect 3 other cans in between the first can and the switch?Well, you cannot connect them "between the first can and the switch", but read on.

Wiring the other cans from the first is simpler than you think. Once I tell you, you'll slap your forehead and say, "well, of course." Run a 12/2 from the first can to the second. At the first can, connect the black and white of the new 12/2 to exactly the same two wires that the first can is connected to. The black wire of the new 12/2, and the black of the first can, connect to the black wire from the switch. This white of the new 12/2, and the whiet of the first can, connect to the white of the power cable.

At all the other lights after the first, simply match all wires by color.

Connect all grounding wires in every box. That will be four grounding wires all connected together in the first can.