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New recess lights wont work

561 Views 11 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  125mph
So I replaced 6 older canned halogen recess lights in my living room with six new 6" recess led lights (canless version). That worked out beautifully.

After that, I brought eight more 4" recessed lights (can-less again) to replaced the older canned halogen recessed ones in the bathroom. The bathroom only has a black and white wires and no ground to the halogens. The wires are stranded and not solid, so instead of using the push connect I just used a wire nut. I installed as normal and didnt do anything with the ground since there is no ground. Not sure if thats the issue but the lights wont turn on. I tried tagging the white into the ground to see what that does but also nada. I know the switch is working because the green light is lit on the dimmer. There is power coming into the new lights too.. For diagnosis purposes, I disconnected the power to the chain, so that only light # 1 and light #5 has power but still light #1 and light #5 still wont light up.

I swapped out the switch to see if that was the problem but still doesnt work. The old lights work fine still if I out the old housing and lights back.

Any ideas? Here is the drawing of what I can see in the walls. I dont know how the light from #1 and #5 reach the switch but I assume they are piggtailed in the wall together?


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LEDs don’t like reverse polarity do that is a possibility. Also stranded wire is not as easy to wire nut as solid, so check connections.
Did you completely remove the old cans. It sounds like you might have had 12 lights and did not remove the transformer. If the LED need 120 volts and you are only feeding them 12 volts that would be an issue.
Did you completely remove the old cans. It sounds like you might have had 12 lights and did not remove the transformer. If the LED need 120 volts and you are only feeding them 12 volts that would be an issue.
I think you’re spot on. The old lights (m16) i removed in the living
all had junction boxes. These ones in the bathroom had no junction boxes that i could locate. Could it be the boxes are located somewhere in the walls? I looked and my view is blocked by the joost/trusts.
Boxes should not be hidden or inaccessible. There could be one box with a 12 volt transformer that is feeding all of the lights. It is hard to say where it might be. Could be in the attic if there is one above.
The stranded wire is a big clue to this since I have only ever seen stranded wire in conduit systems.
Ok
Thx, i will look around. After i find it, what next? Do I bypass the box and connect the stranded line with the switch line?
No you can not use the old stranded line for 120 volts. You must run proper NM cable to all the new lights.
No you can not use the old stranded line for 120 volts. You must run proper NM cable to all the new lights.

Found it in the attic.. here it is..



Do you think, based on the stranded wires, I really need to rewire it all? They big stranded wires.

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Yes you need to rewire it all. That wire is not certify to be installed in a house for 120 volts. Plus it does not have a ground.

One advantage you may have is that it is probably not stapled so you can use it a puller to pull in new NMB cable.
Alrite, thanks for your help! Unfortunately, it is stapled and they made it go waves in the ceiling, .. Tried to pull it through but snagged after a few inches :(
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