Wiring recessed pot lights

last year

Hello, so my basement has a switch at the top of the stairs that controlled 2 lights in the basement, I got rid of both of those, the light switch wire was connected with the neutral wire and all of the power wires, I decided to move the switch wire to another location along with a live wire and a new recessed light wires, I connected all the blacks together all the whites together and all the grounds together and turned on the breaker. The light came on with the switch turned off and when I went to go turn the switch on( even though the light was already on) the breaker tripped. Anyone know what's going on? Thanks for the help

Comments (5)

kudzu9
last year
Impossible to tell from your description. Do you have a wiring diagram for before and after?
Dalton Bonneville
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
I don't have a before but I'll try to explain it better

Thanks for the reply, so this junction box had 2 other wires coming in 1 was for the lightswitch and the other was for another lights that I got rid of, the weird part was that the light switch wire used the white as the "hot" wire, I moved that wire else where to install pot light

I wired it with like colors but when the breaker is on and light switch is on, the breaker trips. When light switch is off the pot light light stays on and doesn't trip until you flick the lightswitch.

The first junction box picture goes to my furnace switch don't know if that matters
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mtvhike
last year
One problem is that when wiring is done with cables that have only black and white wires, the white ones are sometimes used to carry power. In your situation, I would first get a contact tester (the non-contact ones frequently give false positives). Then, with the power off, remove all the wire nuts and make sure the wires themselves aren't touching anything. Then turn on the power and check each wire for power, relative to ground. Repeat this with your switch(es) in each position. Any time a white wire shows power, mark it with red tape (or, perhaps another color other than black or green). This should give you enough information to figure out the problem.
Dalton Bonneville thanked mtvhike
mojavemaria
last year
If your hot wire came in from your light then went from there to your switch that would explain how your White wire would be used as the hot wire. Its normal in this situation but I like to mark with black tape. It is important for you to find out which wire has the voltage coming in so you can hook up the switch properly, it sounds like you bypassed the switch although that shouldn't have jumped the breaker.
Dalton Bonneville thanked mojavemaria
kudzu9
last year
Also be sure to use proper cable clamps where the cables enter the boxes. It looks like none are present in that second photo.