Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Installing a new Outdoor Light
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rickcanny
04-23-05, 11:53 AM
Help. I have an older home and I wanted to install a new motion sensor light outdoors where a plain old light is. I dismantled the old light to find 2 wires and my new light has a ground. To what do I connect the new light's ground? Also, as I didnt write down which of the 2 wires went where, how can I be sure to configure correctly as I've now learned it really matters? Do I need to take another light apart to see? Thank you!
John Nelson
04-24-05, 01:01 PM
First, have this tattooed on the arm you use to do electrical work: "Never disconnect anything without recording the existing connections."
If the box is metal and connected with metal conduit, run a jumper wire from the grounding screw to the box. If the box is not metal, read all the fine print of your new fixture to see if it requires a grounding wire to function reliably. If not, you can install it ungrounded (you don't really have much choice).
Spend $15 on a voltage "tick" tester. It will allow you to determine which of the two wires is hot and which is neutral.
If the box is metal and connected with metal conduit, run a jumper wire from the grounding screw to the box. If the box is not metal, read all the fine print of your new fixture to see if it requires a grounding wire to function reliably. If not, you can install it ungrounded (you don't really have much choice).
Spend $15 on a voltage "tick" tester. It will allow you to determine which of the two wires is hot and which is neutral.