Check For Voltage

[kwired]

got a call years ago in an older home, light works fine til the furnace kicks on, (it was about the same setup only with out the receptacle) turned out that the keyless was being used for the screw in fuse holder

How well did the furnace work? Especially when the light was "turned off"

 

[Little Bill]

Apparently that means begging for a comment. All I have is it looks like the neutral is likely switched conductor for that luminaire. The probe for your meter likely pushed in far enough to contact an ungrounded receptacle terminal as well as the bare grounding conductor.

Nope, not begging for comment, people like pictures!
Since the pic post was at the end of the thread I just thought people might not have bothered to look since everything had been covered.

The neutral wasn't connected to that light at all. It didn't have a bulb in it when I got there. Don't know what happened with the sparks, but the fixture was useless the way it was wired. I took it all down anyway along with the conductors that fed to/from it and were just hanging out of two holes in the ceiling.

This was a repossessed house that a realtor wanted me to "straighten up". They left me plenty to "straighten up"!

 

[kwired]

Nope, not begging for comment, people like pictures!
Since the pic post was at the end of the thread I just thought people might not have bothered to look since everything had been covered.

The neutral wasn't connected to that light at all. It didn't have a bulb in it when I got there. Don't know what happened with the sparks, but the fixture was useless the way it was wired. I took it all down anyway along with the conductors that fed to/from it and were just hanging out of two holes in the ceiling.

This was a repossessed house that a realtor wanted me to "straighten up". They left me plenty to "straighten up"!

Only thing we can tell from the picture that is a NEC violation is that the neutral is likely the switched leg to that luminaire. The black lead to the luminaire terminal on the left is the return from the switch, other side of switch has to be the neutral. If that is wrong we need more pictures to know that.

 

[Little Bill]

Only thing we can tell from the picture that is a NEC violation is that the neutral is likely the switched leg to that luminaire. The black lead to the luminaire terminal on the left is the return from the switch, other side of switch has to be the neutral. If that is wrong we need more pictures to know that.

I don't know if there was a switch or not, as I said, the wires, other than the feed, were just hanging out of the ceiling on each side of the fixture. The fixture has a pull chain switch already in it. It only makes/breaks the center contact in the fixture. I can't see how my meter probes would go in far enough to short something but something shorted when I checked for voltage. I have more pics. but I don't see how they would help as they only show wires hanging out of the ceiling about 2'.

Side Note: How do you get the attic insulation monster to give your tic tester back. He ate mine!:happysad:

 

[kwired]

I don't know if there was a switch or not, as I said, the wires, other than the feed, were just hanging out of the ceiling on each side of the fixture. The fixture has a pull chain switch already in it. It only makes/breaks the center contact in the fixture. I can't see how my meter probes would go in far enough to short something but something shorted when I checked for voltage. I have more pics. but I don't see how they would help as they only show wires hanging out of the ceiling about 2'.

Side Note: How do you get the attic insulation monster to give your tic tester back. He ate mine!:happysad:

Look at the bare grounding conductors right behind the receptacle - if your meter probe is long enough and you insert probe into ungrounded slot of receptacle and tip of probe pushes all the way to one of those grounding conductors .. I can easily see that happening. Sure looks to me like you have a hot, neutral and a switch return all whites are connected together and all but one black is connected together as well as to one side of lamp - the remaining black which is connected to other side of lamp about has to be a switch return with the other side of switch connected to neutral.

 

[Gac66610]

How well did the furnace work? Especially when the light was "turned off"

wasn't a switch in sight:happyno:
guess the light was an "Eternal light" :angel:
worked great til a HVAC service tech went to check the furnace, tried running through its cycles and the light went out so he couldn't see to work on it

 

[kwired]

wasn't a switch in sight:happyno:
guess the light was an "Eternal light" :angel:
worked great til a HVAC service tech went to check the furnace, tried running through its cycles and the light went out so he couldn't see to work on it

Did the HVAC guy by chance see the lampholder and thought - if I put a bulb in there I won't need to get my trouble light and that is when problems started?

Doesn't make the install right - but it probably worked just fine until somebody decided the bulb was a smart idea.

 

[Gac66610]

Did the HVAC guy by chance see the lampholder and thought - if I put a bulb in there I won't need to get my trouble light and that is when problems started?

Doesn't make the install right - but it probably worked just fine until somebody decided the bulb was a smart idea.

you are probably right, let me borrow H.G. Wells time machine and I'll go back about 15 - 20 years and find out

we ran into this back when i was still learning this trade, the only reason i rem it ... it just seemed odd

 

[cadpoint]

Ask the realtor if the house was formally owned by deaf person? I think it was more of a signal situation than not...

 

[ramsy]

let me borrow H.G. Wells time machine and I'll go back about 15 - 20 years and find out

The science H.G. Wells & others had based time travel theory has changed . Time is no longer considered the fourth dimension of space.

 

[kwired]

Ask the realtor if the house was formally owned by deaf person? I think it was more of a signal situation than not...

I have seen lights used as a signal for the deaf, but putting it in series with the load being indicated does not work so well.