circuit tripped by light switch

In trying to install a light with wiring that previous owner had installed, one of the circuits was tripped when i tuned switch on. Now i cannot get that circuit back at all. Please advise.

 

If it trips when you turn the light switch on then the most likely cause is a miswired switch loop.
If you tell us about all the wiring at the light and the switch we can guide you to fix it.

 

I do not have the light hooked up; the switch is the wall switch There are 3 black wires hooked together in the electrical box - one i presume goes directly to power, one to the wall switch, and the third to the rest of the circuit. Two white wires are hooked together - i presume one back to the circuit box and one to the rest of that circuit. There is a third separate white wire which i presume is the one to the wall switch.

 

So it sounds based on your description, is that you are shorting the hot and neutral together when you connect the switch and flip it on.
Prior to all this, did the rest of the circuit work if the light was turned off?

 

Is the wire description in the fixture or the switch?
Does the circuit trip as soon as the breaker is turned on? Is the wall switch on or of at the time?

 

I have not hooked up the light fixture. When the wall switch was turned off prior to this, yes, the rest of circuit worked.

 

The wiring i described is in an electrical box about 2 feet above and to the side of the wall switch. I have not hooked up the light fixture. The circuit trips as soon as i reset the breaker when the wall switch is on, but does not do so when the wall switch is off.

 

Somewhere you have a hot wire connected to the ground or neutral. It may not be an actual connection. It could be a box clamp too tight shorting the wires.

 

Check post #3 in this thread. If I read it correctly, white and black assumed going to the switch.
Post #7 confirms the switch is the issue.

 

The single white not connect to anything sounds like the switched hot to the fixture. Although the wrong colours are used in the loop it will not trip the breaker as described.
We do not have any info so far indicating where the problem is.

 

Just got back to this with some progress i think, but still not there.
The circuit is back. I have the three black (power, circuit, and switch) all connected. The white power and circuit wires are connected. The problem now is the white switch wire and the combination black wires, when tested, show "on" regardless whether the switch is on or off.

 

That does not sound like a problem to me. That sounds correct. The black wire coming back from the switch will go on/off with the switch.

 

With the setup as it is the light would be on all the time. If i separate the black wire that goes to the switch then there is no connection to power, whether the switch is off or on.

 

To recap from my original post, circuit tripped by light switch, i found and corrected the problem with the circuit (a wrong connection with the white wires), but now cannot get the switch to work. The power through the white wire to the switch and the combination black wires tests "on" with the switch in either the on or off position. Three black wires are connected - to switch, to power, and to the rest of the circuit, and two white wires are connected - to power and to the rest of the circuit. The white wire to switch is kept separate. Joel has informed me that that "sounds correct". But i cannot see how to arrange the wiring so that the power tests "off" when the switch is off, and thereby allow me to install the light fixture properly. The rest of the wiring is behind walls, so i do not know how it is all connected. I would appreciate if anyone can help me at this point.