LED Light Problems


  #1  
Old 05-19-16, 07:08 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 142
Received 2 Upvotes on 2 Posts
LED Light Problems

The setup is: ceiling light/fan/heater unit, 1 40w LED light on the wall. Wall switches....... 1 paddle switch controls LED light, 2 2-way switches and 1 3 way switch to control ceiling unit.

Originally there was a 5 40 watt bulb halogen light bar on the wall instead of the LED. The paddle switch controlled the light bar and the other 3 switches controlled the ceiling unit.

After installing the LED now every switch will tun on the LED, the heater in the ceiling unit won't come on and the vent fan runs very slow, sometimes the ceiling unit lights will come on, sometimes they won't.

I wired the LED light the same way the halogen light bar was wired. The common from the box and common to the switch were tied together. The hot from the box was on one end of the light and the black from the switch was on the other end. So apparently power to the ceiling unit runs through the wall light as it won't work unless the wall light is wired up.

I don't know if this makes electrical sense but I'm wondering if the electrician who wired it up originally counted on the total resistance from the halogen light bar to keep it from coming on when the switches for the ceiling unit were used.

At any rate it looks like I might have to disconnect the power at the LED and run it down to the switch in order to isolate the LED from the ceiling unit. Does that sound right?

Any suggestions much appreciated.
 
  #2  
Old 05-19-16, 07:12 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 142
Received 2 Upvotes on 2 Posts
Mod please move this to the lighting/Light fixtures forum

thanks
 
  #3  
Old 05-19-16, 08:25 AM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,928
Received 3,947 Upvotes on 3,540 Posts
Your thread was moved.

You wired the LED fixture incorrectly. It sounds like you have the light connected across two switched hot lines and missed the neutral.

The common from the box and common to the switch were tied together. The hot from the box was on one end of the light and the black from the switch was on the other end.
What are you calling common ? There is no "common" wire. White is neutral but neutral won't be found on a switch. There is a common terminal on a three way switch but that is a hot connection. So if you connected that hot connection and the black from the box.... you have two hot wires to your light.
 
  #4  
Old 05-19-16, 09:13 AM
pcboss's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 13,976
Received 194 Upvotes on 170 Posts
It sounds like series wiring was used instead of parallel.
 
  #5  
Old 05-19-16, 09:18 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 142
Received 2 Upvotes on 2 Posts
not sure I understand

All I did was replace the old light with a new light and wired it exactly as it was before.

There is a line coming straight from the power panel and another line coming from the switches. The two neutrals were wired together and the black from the switches was on one end of the light while the other black from the panel went on the other.

thanks
 
  #6  
Old 05-19-16, 09:22 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 142
Received 2 Upvotes on 2 Posts
that's what I'm thinking pcboss
 
  #7  
Old 05-19-16, 09:31 AM
pcboss's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 13,976
Received 194 Upvotes on 170 Posts
You need a hot and a neutral for the light. The way you describe the wiring places the fixture in series on the hot.
 
  #8  
Old 05-23-16, 04:53 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 142
Received 2 Upvotes on 2 Posts
Fixed it.

Apparently the electrician had used the neutral wire from the switch and tied it to the hot wire.

But then there was something else, the ceiling unit wouldn't work unless the wall light was on. So I pulled both switches and yes, he had the ceiling unit switch jumpered from the wall light switch so I disconnected that and tied the ceiling unit lights/fans to the incoming hot.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: