Thursday, November 21, 2013

Hard Wire A Bathroom Fixture

Bathroom light fixtures are hard-wired into the main electrical system.


Bathroom light fixtures are just like any other light fixture in the home, except that they tend to be brighter to illuminate often dark bathrooms. Hard-wiring is the process of attaching the wires of the fixture to the ones in the wall, thus connecting the fixture to the home's main electrical system. Although hard-wiring a bathroom light fixture may cause apprehension to novice homeowners, the task only requires common tools.


Instructions


1. Go to the home's main fuse box and turn off the power to the entire bathroom. A good way to ensure that the power is off is to turn the bathroom light on first and then it will go off when you have deactivated the proper fuse.


2. Place a stepladder under the bathroom fixture, if needed, and remove the old light fixture from the wall. If there is a globe, such as with ceiling lights, locate the small nut on the side and turn it counterclockwise to remove before detaching the globe. To remove the base, look for two small screws and remove them with a screwdriver.


3. Turn the plastic cap on top of the black wires counterclockwise to remove it and then untwist the black wires from each other. Repeat the process to detach the white wires from each other. In most cases, there is also a copper or green-colored wire that is attached to a metal part of the outlet housing that you must detach as well. Do not detach the metal housing since you can attach the new light to it.


4. Discard the old fixture and unwrap the new fixture from all of its packaging.


5. Locate the white wire on the back of the light fixture and twist the bare ends together with the white wall wire. Place a plastic wire cap, provided with the new fixture, on top of the two and turn the cap clockwise two or three times. Repeat the process to connect the black fixture wire to the black wall wire.








6. Locate the copper or green wire on the light fixture and wrap the end of it around any part of the metal outlet housing inside the wall. This is a ground wire and does not carry any electrical current.








7. Push all of the wires inside the wall or ceiling cavity and push the light fixture into position. Insert the provided screws into the two or three screw holes on the fixture and tighten them with a screwdriver.


8. Go to the man fuse box and turn the power back on for the bathroom. The fixture should come on, indicating that it is properly hard-wired.

Tags: light fixture, bathroom fixture, bathroom light, Bathroom light, Bathroom light fixtures, black wires