Ceiling Light Will Not Turn Off via Wall Switch

[chiefbee]

I replaced a ceiling light fixture because it became inoperable. All of the wires were replaced the same, black to black and white to white. The red wire in the socket was not attached to anything and was covered. I also changed the wall switches (3-way) and wired them the same with the same brand of switches. There are two other lights that use the traveller wires and they work fine. The problem I have is the light I replaced will not turn on or off with the wall switches. The wires stay hot so it appears the wall switches are not breaking the circuit. Several people have checked it and everything appears to be wired properly. HELP!!!

Thank you.

[joed]

Try connecting the fixture black to the red wire. Red is usually the switched wire when it is present.

[chiefbee]

That did not work. The red wire in the ceiling was not hot. Current appears to be running through the black wires continuously.

Thank you.

[John Nelson]

The advice Joe gave would be correct 99% of the time. I'm not sure why it didn't work for you. Is there just one wire of each color in the ceiling box? Did you cap off and not use the black wire from the ceiling?

When you replaced the switches, did you pay careful attention to which wire was attached to the "common" screw on the old switch and attach the same wire to the "common" screw on the new switch (which might not have necessarily been in the same position on the new switch)?

[chiefbee]

The ceiling box has 2 black and 2 white and 1 red plus the ground wire. For the light fixture I removed, the red wire was not connected to anything. I cannot recall exactly how the black and white wires were connected because they had corroded to the point where some of them broke when the light fixture was dropped from ceiling box.

I purchased light switches identical to the ones that were being used and wired them one wire at a time to make sure I did not mess that up. There are other lights that use the same type of switches in the house and I replaced one of them with one of the new ones and it worked as it should.

When it comes to the light fixture, both wires going into the bulb sockets are white so it is hard to tell which is which, but one on each has current and the other does not. I went back and checked the red wire in the ceiling box last night and it does have current, but it is rather low. If I attach the black from the light fixture to the red, and the whites tothe whites,what should I do with the black wires in the ceiling box? Twist them together and cap them off?

BTW, whatever I do with the wires in the light that I am working on affects the ceiling light in the adjacent room and the outside light which has a wall switch in that room. I am assuming that they are all hooked to the same carrier(?) wires. Would that be the black ones or the white ones? Now I guess my ignorance is really showing.

Hopefully I have provided enough info. If not, please let me know and thanks in advance for your help.

[John Nelson]

Oh, well that's a horse of a different color.

Connect the two blacks to each other but not to the fixture.
Connect the two whites to each other and to the white from the fixture.
Connect the red to the black from the fixture.