Need help wiring chandelier

Mike2181 · 10-03-2009, 02:44 AM

The dining room had a ceiling fan w/lighting over the table. There is a dimmer knob on the wall for this light which I will be replacing with a new dimmer switch. The fan is gone and I have a chandelier I want to put up in its place.
The chandelier itself has two white wires and one green(ground?) wire. But the ceiling is where I'm confused. There is a plastic cone over the hole that the old fan mounted to. The ground from ceiling is screwed to that cone shaped piece. So when I remove cone then that ground can go right to chandelier I gather. My confusion is with the other two wires. In the ceiling two sets of wires come out......a white and black from left, and white and black from right. Why two sets? Am I to just take both whites and put them together and then to the light? And then do the same with the two black wires?

Figures I don't remember but think that's how they were wired when I took down the fan...whites together then to fan, and blacks together then to fan. Have someone in the home painting and he has a single light bulb hanging from it for now to help with lighting. I noticed he has both whites together and then to the light, but only one black is to the light. The other black wire is not wired to anything. Any advice?

oilseal · 10-03-2009, 06:18 AM

That other black mystery wire may be going to an outlet in that room or maybe another. Check around to see if something has lost its power.

jbfan · 10-03-2009, 10:16 AM

If you had a dimmer before, did it dim just the lights on the fan, or the fan, or both?

Mike2181 · 10-03-2009, 12:19 PM

The knob on the wall just turned on and dimmed the lights. Honestly, never used the fan though....so if the pull chain was pulled(fan turned on), then perhaps the knob could have turned on the fan as well?

zircon · 10-03-2009, 12:46 PM

I think you have two circuits, a black and a white for the fan and a black and a white for the lights. Do not connect them together. Pick one pair and connect the chandelier. If the chandelier comes on and is not controlled by the dimmer you picked the fan circuit. Switch to the other pair of black and white. Wire nut and bury the fan pair in the box as you might want it in the future.

Magnettica · 10-03-2009, 12:57 PM

two sets of wires come out......a white and black from left, and white and black from right. Why two sets?

One set is your incoming power, the other set goes to your switch. You need to figure out which set has the power and the other set will be going to the switch. Tie the white wire from the switch to the black wire of the incoming power. Make sure the switch is off. Now the two remaining wires get tied to the light fixture. Turn the switch back on and you should be good to go.

Good luck!

Mike2181 · 10-03-2009, 02:02 PM

Thanks for the help guys, will give this a shot today while at the house.

Mike2181 · 10-04-2009, 02:36 AM

Didn't get a chance to work on the electrical at the house today but did give it a look on the way out. If it means anything, I noticed a ground is coming from both sides as well.....they are twisted together and then grounded.

So should I be trying to use one set to see if it works, then if not go off to the other set as zircon suggests? Or should I be going with Magnettica's post and crossing white with black wire then others to light? The whites are currently together and to a temporary light socket, only one black is to the light...grounds are together and grounded. Lone black wire is not wired to anything.

AllanJ · 10-04-2009, 08:58 AM

Connect the white wire from the power source to one of the chandelier wires. (Ideally that which connects to the lamp socket shells and which should also be white.)

Connect the black wire from the switch to the the other chandelier wire. Ideally it should be the chandelier wire that goes to the center contacts at the bottoms of the sockets and should have been black.

Connect the other two wires (power feed black to switch cable white) to each other.

Connect all grounds (bare and green wires) to each other at each box. At the switch there should be (should have been) a long end of bare wire to connect to the switch frame (strip; yoke).

Magnettica · 10-04-2009, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike2181

Didn't get a chance to work on the electrical at the house today but did give it a look on the way out. If it means anything, I noticed a ground is coming from both sides as well.....they are twisted together and then grounded.

So should I be trying to use one set to see if it works, then if not go off to the other set as zircon suggests? Or should I be going with Magnettica's post and crossing white with black wire then others to light? The whites are currently together and to a temporary light socket, only one black is to the light...grounds are together and grounded. Lone black wire is not wired to anything.

Yeah... what do I know I've only been doing this 20 years.

Who put two white wires together, the painter right?

Maybe you should ask him then.

Mike2181 · 10-04-2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnettica

Yeah... what do I know I've only been doing this 20 years.

Who put two white wires together, the painter right?

Maybe you should ask him then.

First home and I don't know much, so yes....if two different answers come up I'm gonna throw the question out there as to which way I should go and see if one sounds more logical or if the group leans that way. And I should know you've been doing this 20 years? Who put them together.....well whoever installed the fan nearly 15 years ago when my Grandfather bought the home. The home was outdated to say the least, so now I'm fixing it up to move in and well..no, I can't go ask 'him' so that's why I'm on a diy board asking for help.

zircon · 10-04-2009, 03:56 PM

If the temporary light is controlled by the switch or dimmer, just attach the chandelier to these two wires and you're done. If the light is not controlled by the switch and you are loosening the bulb to turn it off, then try the other black and the white pair. If the light works and is controlled by the switch or dimmer, then use these wires. If you do not get a light on this pair, then it is the switch leg and you should do what Magnettica says and attach the hot black that is connected presently to the temp lamp to the other white and use the remaining b&w to the chandelier. This would mean separating the whites.

Magnettica · 10-04-2009, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike2181

First home and I don't know much, so yes....if two different answers come up I'm gonna throw the question out there as to which way I should go and see if one sounds more logical or if the group leans that way. And I should know you've been doing this 20 years? Who put them together.....well whoever installed the fan nearly 15 years ago when my Grandfather bought the home. The home was outdated to say the least, so now I'm fixing it up to move in and well..no, I can't go ask 'him' so that's why I'm on a diy board asking for help.

There's a good chance the painter tied to the two whites together because he too doesn't know any better but what he does know is that he needs light so he's gonna do whatever it takes, FIRE DEPARTMENT BE DAMNED.

Amazingly, I can figure things out without actually having been there or seen the issue first hand. I do the best I can with answering these questions from homeowners. The majority of them here post for a week or two during a small project and are rarely ever heard from again.

Good luck on with your project.