Ceiling light

rtbk801

I'm in process of changing out a ceiling light. I have 3 black wires, 3 white wires and 2 ground wires that were already tied together. I tied the 3 white with the 1 new white from the new light. I also tied the 3 black with the new black from the new fixture. Light stays on and won't switch off?

Gac66610

Does the breaker trip when you flip the switch?
Pull the switch out of the wall to see what wires are on it.

rtbk801

The breaker doesn't trip and there is only 1 black and one white from the switch? Unfortunately when I took down the light I unconnected the wire nuts from the wires? The light stays on continuously with this setup so I assume the switch wires should be wires differently then what I currently have? Thanks

Gac66610

Sounds like a 'switch loop', where the power is at the light and one of the black and white goes to the switch.
You will need to find the one that goes to the switch.
You said there are only two ground/bare wires, does the switch have a ground/bare wire with the black and white?

danpik

You will need to determine which set of wires go to the switch. If the electrician who wired that house followed proper protocall, one of the white wires should have some black tape or markings on it. If so that is the wire to the switch. If not with the power off an OHM meter can help figure it out.

rtbk801

The switch does have a ground. I'm assuming at one time there may have been a fan attached to this light? If the light stays on when all black and all white are tied together and the issue is with the switch, what would be the proper wires to tie into the switch wires so that the switch goes on and off? Sorry but I'm a beginner and others I've changed out never has extra wires so they were always easy when I always cut the power off😀

danpik

You indicated that there is only 1 black and 1 white from the switch box. Can you verify this? Pull the switch and tell us what wires are there and what they are connected to. DO NOT UNHOOK ANYTHING IN THERE we don't need to make this worse. For this exersise in troubleshooting the ground wire is irrelevant in making the circuit work.

Gac66610

True the ground is not needed, OP stated that there were only 2 ground wires, was hoping the switch loop didn't have it as it would be easier to identify which wire went to switch.
If its not a switch loop ... do the other two lights still work?

rtbk801

Yes, other lights work and I verified there is one white, one black and one ground to the switch. This light is only thing operated from the switch? I can figure out which white and which black comes from the switch but which wires go to which to keep the switch working and not on constantly is the question?? Thanks

Gac66610

Good, once you identify the wires going to the switch, tie the white (put a piece of black electrical tape on it)from the switch to the other two black wires and curl into light box, you will not need these any more.
Tie the other two whites together and attach the white from the fixture to them.
You should have one remaining black wire from the switch, tie it to the black of the fixture.
Don't forget to tie the grounds to fixture, and should be good to go.

rtbk801

I will try that this evening and let you know how it went. Thank you very much!

rtbk801

It worked!! Thank you very much!!