Electricians!!! Light wont work, breaker not tripping, power getting to fixture, but still wont work?

Question

Help Please!!! While replacing a ceiling light, (i have replaced many and this is the first time ive had a problem) i turned the breaker back on, and it would trip, this happened twice, so i checked the fixture for shorts, none readily apparent. Rewired it and tried again, then nothing... the fixture didnt work, and the breaker didnt trip. I tried a different simple fixture, the ceramic base type you often see in closets... it wouldnt work either. The same thing happened, the breaker appeared fine, there was power going to the fixture according to my tester, but the bulb didnt burn, I tried a different bulb, still nothing, I changed the light swith on the wall with a new one... still nothing. I checked the wiring and juction box running along the attic floor, no apparent problems there. Is my next step replacing the breaker? if i do and still no light, what would i try next outside of starting at the beginning and tracing every inch of the wiring to that part of my house???

Answer 1

do this:

Check your breaker. If everything is fine:

1. Reconnect the red wire to the yellow wire, this should give the breaker a jolt and make it start working again.

2. If there is no red wire and yellow wire, you might have an uncommon model. The way to fix this is get a piece of electrical tape and disconeect two wires and switch the connections. This changes the circuitry in case one of the wires is ripped.

3. If it still doesn't work, then your breaker is defective, and you must remove it and reconnect it with The wires just below the original connections

Answer 2

Check and make sure your meter reads 110 volts on the 2 wires you have connected to the fixture. If power is there, turn off fixture and use neddlenose pliers and gently pull the contact point in center of the socket down just a little. Turn back on and use tester with 1 lead touching the threads and the other contact located in the center of the base. If power is there, s***w in the bulb and let there be light! Some times a bulb does not s***w all the way down and without contact it will not burn. If you put a light film of Vaseline on only the threads of the bulb it will s***w in and out much easier and will not corrode either.

Answer 3

Does your set up have a separate thing with two big fuses in it.  You pull this thing out by a small handle and there are two good size fuses in there.  Do you think maybe one of them may have gone bad?  I had this happen once but it was connected to my heart pump.  They need changing every few years.  Just a thought.

Good luck on this.

Answer 4

What kind of tester are you using and which wires are you testing??

Answer 5

Sounds like you have an open somewhere along your nuetral. Your Hot (black wire) should come from the breaker to the switch, thru the switch contact and then to the light. Your nuetral (white wire) goes from the light, splices in your switch box and to the panel nuetral bar which should be bonded to ground. If you have a multimeter you should read 110V between you hot and nuetral at any of these points.

Answer 6

Sounds like theres a ploblem with the neutral ( white ) wire. Did you check across the wires for current or just check the wire. Try removing the white wire from the light and hooking the ground wire to where the white was. If there is no ground wire try grounding that side of the light to the box. if the light works you know the neutral wire is your problem.

Answer 7

is there a fuse somewhere.

Answer 8

If you have power going to the light, but it is not working, you have lost the neutral somewhere in the circuit.  The neutral doesn't go through the breaker.

Answer 9

I hate to tell u this...U got the wires all mess up.  Thank God there's color coding.  U change the switch and still nothing.  Did u turn it on?  The wiring on the ceiling have color coding or it's the plain cloth type?  The neutral wire is the white color wire.  and the common wire is the black color wire.  There should be two wires coming from the switch.  U could tell with a ohm meter.  just  turn switch on and check if there is current first.  if not,  check for continuity.  Touch the 2 wires with the tester  for Ohms...it should be 0 resistance.  Now, u know that line is the switch.  Note:  it could 1 white and 1 black.

Lets look for the neutral wire.  Even the cloth type is marked or painted WHITE. keep that in mind for it's location.  Now look for the common wire.  The BLACK one.  U need to make sure if u touch that black line and the white line. with a Volt meter..u have power...Voltage reading is 115 or better.  

Let's go back to white line from the switch.  TURN OFF POWER  from breaker.  hook up the common wire (black wire) to the white wire from the switch.  Put a twist cap on it and lets hook the black wire to ur light socket.  Get the neutral wire (white) line and hook it to the other side of the light.  That should complete the light circuit.  Undo what ever u do to the other places and put back what ever u did back.  Turn breaker on.  It should kick in and ur light should come ON. oh and OFF.From the light switch.

Answer 10

are you checking for power at the fixture end?   I am thinking either the black or the white has a break "in line" on that one circuit(maybe a nail wentt thru)