Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Adding additional fixture

Hello,

I'm redoing my bath which had a 6 bulb "hollywood" vanity lighting. The single gang was stuck on the left side of the vanity so when I've removed it, the power is to the far left of wall.

I'm adding two new fixtures but I have to run additional power over to the right side to power the additional light fixture. I got some more 12-2 wire and removed the single gang it was currently in. I plan on joining the present live 12-2 with another 12-2 and run it up into the attic and back down to where the 2nd fixture should be (otherwise i have to drill through a 2x4). Is this a sound plan? Seems I will have a junction of 3 wires at one point, current live, extension to 2nd fixture, then fixture on left. I plan on patching the hole where the gang box was (cutting new holes where the fixtures will be). Is this the proper way to do this?

Thanks for any help,

- Mike

No, your plan is flawed. You are NOT allowed to have a splice or connection inside the wall. All such connections must be in permanently accessible junction boxes.

The idea to route cable into the attic and over to where you need it then down the wall is okay.

You must do one of the following

1) Route the existing cable to one of the new light boxes or the other (if it is long enough).

2) Replace the cable from it's source so that it can be routed to one of the new junction boxes.

3) Place a junction box at the junction and place a blank cover over it so that it can be accessed.

Thanks racraft, it did not seem the proper way to do things.

The existing cable can reach one of the light fixtures, my problem is getting the power to the other. I have to splice somewhere since I only have one power source and two fixtures.

You are saying I can splice inside one of the light fixtures (since it is not inside the wall) or I can splice in a junction box and run wires from there to both the light fixtures. In either option I still have essentially three wires at one connection. How do you splice 3 12-2 or even 2 12-2 wires together? Seems twisters are only good for stranded to 12-2?

Thanks for all the help,

- Mike

The wire nuts that came with the fixtures may only be good enough for two wires, but you can buy larger wire nuts. Go to any of the big box stores and search the electrical aisles. Read the packaging, it will indicate the maximum number of wires, etc.

At the first fixture splice together the wire from the fixture, your incoming wire and the wire going to the next fixture. Do this for all three wires (hot, neutral and ground).

Great, thanks for the help racraft!

- Mike

One last thing, since the incoming "hot" wire in the light fixture is going to look the same as the wire connected to the other light fixture (both 12-2), what is the standard for marking a wire as the hot wire vs. a transfer wire (i.e. not connected to the breaker) or should I use a different type of wire for the transfer connection over to the other fixture?

Thanks again,

- Mike

It makes no difference which cable has power and which does not, and you don't mark them in any way.

Hi again,

After a couple of hours in the attic, it seems running wire up through the attic had one little glitch. The support truss for the vaulted ceiling lines up directly with the bathroom wall. That means I can't get to through the wall to run my wire. The wire that is powering the existing light comes from the bottom (not the attic). So I used a right angle drill to go through about 4 studs to get to the other side where I want my additional light fixture. Is this within code and if not how do I make it code? Do I need to run a metal conduit for protection? Thanks again.

- Mike

Going through the studs horizontally is fine.