Avoid These Common Light Fixture Wiring Issues

I will walk you through 2 common issues I find on old light fixtures when making updates around the house. This will help you stay code compliant and also follow best practices

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[DaHaiZhu]

FYI: You should test BOTH Hot and Neutral wires. I've seen some DIY in my home and on YouTube (OMG) where they use whatever color they want for hot/neutral/ground. Yikes!!!

[sirrebral]

I'm no electrician, just a DIY homeowner/landlord, but the grounding solution shown here still "goes against code" since a grounding screw is not to be used for any other purpose (such as one used to secure/clamp the romex). To double-check, I looked it up in the code; that restriction is covered in 250.148 (C)...I'm guessing that a dual purpose creates a greater risk that the grounding screw will later become unbonded to the box. The alternatives seem simple enough; permitted grounding/bonding equipment is found in 250.8 (A)...if the old box doesn't have a spare threaded hole for a dedicated machine screw, one of those green grounding clips would do, assuming that's what's being referred to as a "pressure connector" in 250.8 (A)(3).

[Spirch]

in the beginning of the video, test hot AND neutral, you never know if it was properly wired, maybe the hot is the neutral! or there is a backfeed

[walterbordett]

If I saw good twisted and soldered splices, I would save the wire length and shorten the splice to the length for a wire nut and twist on a wire nut.

Your approach also works fine.

[markpascarelli]

I wouldn't use the cable clamp screw for the Equipment Grounding Conductor. Drill and Tap for a green screw. That way you can torque it properly.

[robertfrick]

I agree with Ed. 44 years as a residential electrical contractor. You never use a steel romex clamp to ground a box, ESPECIALLY if there is a romex under that clamp. I also use the 3M wirenuts with the skirt. You have more copper twisted together. Much better connection. Cutting the good copper even shorter is a bad habit too.

[Ifeguy]

1) using the clap screw as a ground would be a code violation. Its probably fine, but it would be preferable to drill and tap and use a green screw in the electrical box. 2) you didn't test the neutral wire for hot, something could be miswired somewhere or it could be a traveler wire in some cases. Always test each wire to see if hot. Additionally the touchless testers are ok, but I prefer to also test with a DVM before I start working on the wires.

[wingdwolf]

I just finished wiring my barn for lights and outlets using wago connectors for the first time. Shaved quite a bit of time too!!!

[-old-Forthischet]

I use those Wago nuts all the time now but I do go one step further and wrap electrical tape on those levers because they can pop open easily when placing the wires back into the metal boxes. Yes, I learned the hard way.

[Archangel]

Love love LOVE setting the Wago up BEFORE trying to hold the fixture in one hand, manipulate the stiff wires with the other hand, and ... ... screw on the caps with the third hand?! Yeah, funny thing, I was not ISSUED a third hand, so this is a SUPER suggestion! Very helpful! Off to the store to pick up some Wago! Thanks!

[Supertrack]

Always check BOTH black and white... you never know which was the switch leg, until you prove it out. Also, you shortened already short looking wires... you could have trimmed them back slightly, and wire-nutted it, or, not trimmed it, and used heat shrink insulation and a wire nut. Better choice to an already good electrical connection.

[bobdonaldson]

WAGO’s are the Way to Go! Absolutely love them. First heard of them on your channel. Keep up the great videos. Some of the best on YouTube.

[RJ-ejnr]

250.148(C) A connection used for no other purpose shall be made between the metal box and the equipment grounding conductor(s) in accordance with 250.8.

The language has made for some debate, but I read that as the ground connection should not be doubled as a NM clamp screw. You can use a tap bit (Ideal has a nice bit set) to create a threaded hole in the top of the box, and attach with a standard ground screw.

[michaelholliday]

By Code these wire must protrude from a fixture or outlet a minimum of 3 inches... in any dimension, each conductor shall be long enough to extend at least 75 mm (3 in.) outside the opening. Exception: Conductors that are not spliced or terminated at the outlet, junction, or switch point shall not be required to comply with 300.14.

[richardstahlbusch]

I was an electrician for 39 yrs. and it's been my experience that most pressure type electrical connections fail in time. The twist type wire nut if installed properly fail far less. I always preferred 3M brand wire nuts. Never been fond of pressure type ground connectios either. Grounds are extremely important and should always be treated as such, your life or someone else's can depend on it. I was always taught that the code is bare minimum. If you can improve on it so much the better.

[russellstephan]

As other's have pointed out, using the wire clamp screw is a no-no code-wise.

Either drill and tap or go with a slide-on box-edge grounding clip. I have a collection of such clips along with green grounding screws of various lengths/diameters for retrofitting existing installations.

[garylangley]

I worked on a house that had knob and tube wiring. All of the connections were soldered and taped, but there were no junction boxes. Also, back then there was no such thing as the plastic tape we have today, but a cloth based "friction tape".

[denniswilliams]

Replacing 1" twisted pair of (mechanically sound) solid, and SOLDERED copper wire with a "Wago 221" connector, instead of replacing the tape with a red wire nut, is by far the most regressive effort in electrical wiring you could make. Wago connectors were designed for ease of use and time saving, not for improving the soundness of the termination.

[donaldeisenbarth]

I suspect at the time the old fixture it was in compliance with the code of its time. I remember: good mechanical joint, solder, rubber tape, friction tape was the standard most everewhere.

[crumpaliens]

Never use your linemans to grab wire and put into a wago or anything. Use your fingers. You could nick the insulation. And yes, drill and tap 10/32 for the ground screw, use a ground clip or use the hole in the box made for it. Gotta love resi guy’s techniques.