Connect Wires Light Fixture Video
What Happens if You Wire a Light Fixture WRONG!
Did you discover something in this video that prevented you from getting ELECTROCUTED? How about buying me a mocha-chip ice cream cone as a favor?
Tim Carter demonstrates how to connect wires to a simple light fixture. Tim received an email on this video FIVE years after it first was published. Read the latest in the September 2, 2019 AsktheBuilder Newsletter. The first mention of this column was in the September 19, 2014 AsktheBuilder Weekend Warrior.
Brass Screw = HOT Wire
Simple light fixtures that you find in basements and garages usually have different colored screws where you attach the wires.
You want to put the HOT black wire on the brass screw and the neutral white wire on the silver screw.
If you do it backwards, you'll energize the threads inside the socket and if you touch the threads on the bulb as you screw it in, you could get ZAPPED!
Silver Screw = White Neutral Wire
Put the white neutral wire on the silver screw.
Ground Wire = Green Screw
Put the bare ground wire on the green screw. If no green screw, attach it to the box if it's metal. If it's a plastic box, just tuck it back into the box away from the fixture screws to prevent a short.
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Fixtures With Wire Leads
If you have a light fixture that has short wires that are part of it, connect them this way:
- Black to black
- White to white
- Green to bare copper ground wire
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