Home Improvement Asked on July 18, 2021
I tried installing a light fixture in a previously unused light box (so cannot use how previous light was wired as a baseline).
My light fixture has a black live wire, a white neutral wire and a green ground wire.
The box in the ceiling has 2 black wires twisted together, 2 white wire twisted together, a red wire and a bare copper wire.
I wired the black box wires to the fixture black wire, the whites to the white, the copper to the green and left the red wire alone.
When I turned the breaker back on, the light was on and flipping the switch did not turn it off.
I replaced the switch, but that did not do anything.
My best guess is I wired it wrong but I have no idea what the right configuration would be.
Edit:
Connecting the black light wire to the red ceiling wire fixed the issue. Thank you!
What I suspect you have (ignoring the grounds) is:
The hots all connect together. Do not touch them.
The neutrals all connect together. Add your light's white = neutral to this bundle.
The switched hot connects to your light's black wire so that it is switched.
Colors, except green/ground and mostly white/neutral have no inherent meaning. But in standard cables, you will normally have black = hot and red = switched hot. (Except when you don't.)
Note that in the good 'ol days, a switch like this would have two wires in the box, not three. So you would have black and white but no neutral. New code requires neutral in the box, therefore /3 cable, therefore white = neutral, even if neutral isn't actually being used. When neutral isn't used, the white wire is capped in the switch box. But that is good because if you decide to add a smart switch, timer, etc. then you have neutral ready and waiting.
Correct answer by manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact on July 18, 2021
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