Electrical wiring help for garage lights

[evoluzione]

Hey everyone, I just got my light fixtures picked and was looking to start wiring them. I'm a little confused as to how the electricians left the wiring in junction boxes and wanted to see if anyone could chime in to see if I'm missing something.

To preface, as it stands, my garage has 9 light fixture j-boxes in the ceiling. They should be all connected to a 3 way switch (2 switches in the garage for the same circuit). I have attached a picture of the switch where it shares a j-box with my external carriage lights (these external lights work with the switch shown on the left).


The ceiling light switch is shown on the right.


When I opened the first two boxes in the ceiling, one box had 2 sets of wires (you can see the two wires pulled into the box). Only the black capped wire was live, no matter what position the switch was in (I tried both 3-way switches), it’s always live. (I tried reading about this and some say it could be a mistake in wiring on a 3-way switch?)
What would this second run of wires be for?




I then opened up the second box and this only had 1 pull. None of the wires are live, no matter what position the switch is in.



There are no other switches in the garage, other than the 2 gang and the single switch (part of the 3-way circuit).

I'm not very familiar with circuits & how this was wired up to have all 9 lights on one switch. Just wanted to hear from you guys before I started wiring up all the lights to the ceiling.
Hopefully someone might spot something or help me out.

Thanks again

 

[u2slow]

If thats supposed to be a 3way switch, there will be a companion 3way elsewhere.

I reckon the dead cable in the box (with two) carries onto the other box with the dead cable.

 

[Max]

Typically the wires are routed from J box to J box. So the active hot is from the switch, and the other cable goes to the next J box.

 

[evoluzione]

Typically the wires are routed from J box to J box. So the active hot is from the switch, and the other cable goes to the next J box.

So am I supposed to wire the light to the set of cables that is hot? It stays hot no matter if I flip the switches...

 

[Max]

Hopefully your wiring looks something like this:



In this example you can see that the lamps are wired up like yours. There is a hot/neutral coming in on the left that is always on. Check your switches - there needs to be a hot, neutral, and “traveler” at each switch. If there isn’t the switches are not 3-way.

 

[evoluzione]

Hopefully your wiring looks something like this:



In this example you can see that the lamps are wired up like yours. There is a hot/neutral coming in on the left that is always on. Check your switches - there needs to be a hot, neutral, and “traveler” at each switch. If there isn’t the switches are not 3-way.

Yes, I believe it looks like this. Here's a closer look at the main 3 way switch box. You can see the red 3-way wire going to the switch as well.


My question now is in the drawing you attached, the light junction box has a set of wires connected to the light, and another set of cables that are tied together (black and white). The first box I showed with the 2 sets of wires in it, is the only one I'm seeing that has 2 sets of cables. The others only have 1 set of cables (black, white and ground). So in this first box, am I wiring the light fixture with the two set of cables that has the hot cable, and ignoring the other set of cables?



Or am I pig tailing the two white cables together + the white cable from the fixture, and the same with the two black wires + the black wire from the fixture, because the lights are in series?

 

[sparky 1971]

The very first thing you need to do is take your pen tester and smash it with a hammer and throw it away. It's not a piece of test equipment, that's what meters are for. Then, connect all of the black wires in the in the fixture box to the black for the fixture. The same with the white. Then, you guessed it, the same is going to go for the ground wires. If the lights don't work after that, come back.

 

[Bert_]

Don't mess with the switches put them back together. The reason your second box has no power is because the wires aren't connected in the first box!

 

[billconner]

Hopefully your wiring looks something like this:



In this example you can see that the lamps are wired up like yours. There is a hot/neutral coming in on the left that is always on. Check your switches - there needs to be a hot, neutral, and “traveler” at each switch. If there isn’t the switches are not 3-way.

I'm missing you point showing lights wired in series rather than parallel. ??

 

[Max]

I'm missing you point showing lights wired in series rather than parallel. ??

Sorry, I was confusing. Electrically the multiple lights are wired in parallel. Period.

But the light cabling goes from light to light in a serial manner, ie. the wiring is not home run back to a single point. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[evoluzione]

The very first thing you need to do is take your pen tester and smash it with a hammer and throw it away. It's not a piece of test equipment, that's what meters are for. Then, connect all of the black wires in the in the fixture box to the black for the fixture. The same with the white. Then, you guessed it, the same is going to go for the ground wires. If the lights don't work after that, come back.

Noooo my lovely pen tester!

So the fact that the capped wire is 'live' is normal even with the switch being flipped on and off? I'll kill the breaker to avoid issues but ill report back once I've wired them up. thanks again

 

[sparky 1971]

Just because the pen tester lights up doesn't mean it's live. You could be getting a false reading due to an induced voltage. That's not what pen testers are for. The switches could be wired wrong and the pen tester is doing what it's designed to do - let you know if the potential to get shocked is there. If you put a meter on it, you would know. Nobody can tell from the photos without a picture of both three way switches, and even then it might not be clear what the last guy did.

Noooo my lovely pen tester!

So the fact that the capped wire is 'live' is normal even with the switch being flipped on and off? I'll kill the breaker to avoid issues but ill report back once I've wired them up. thanks again

 

[Bert_]

The very first thing you need to do is take your pen tester and smash it with a hammer and throw it away. It's not a piece of test equipment, that's what meters are for. Then, connect all of the black wires in the in the fixture box to the black for the fixture. The same with the white. Then, you guessed it, the same is going to go for the ground wires. If the lights don't work after that, come back.

I use my tic tester pretty regularly, it's just another tool. The cheap ones give a false positive often. My fluke is pretty reliable but I'm not going to trust my life to it.

If you aren't a great trouble shooter it's much better to use a meter

 

[sparky 1971]

I use my tic tester pretty regularly, it's just another tool. The cheap ones give a false positive often. My fluke is pretty reliable but I'm not going to trust my life to it.

If you aren't a great trouble shooter it's much better to use a meter

I have and use a Santronics glow pen. I don't know that I would trust it if it lit up on the switch leg no matter the position of the switch. A former co-worker that I just happen to be using as a sub today swears by them. We were both employed by the same contractor 15 years ago when we were sent out on a service call. No powered to the living room. We got there and I headed for the panel and he went to the living room. I'm taking the covers screws out and he's yelling down stairs "we have power " I yell up that the neutral may be lost, put a meter on it. I was taking out the last screw when he yelled down that he doesn't know why nothing works because we have power for probably the fifth time. I took the cover off, set it on the floor, and went upstairs. Acting like I was interested, I asked for his pen tester. He handed it to me and I broke in two right in front of the customer. 7 told him to use a meter.

 

[Bert_]

I have and use a Santronics glow pen. I don't know that I would trust it if it lit up on the switch leg no matter the position of the switch. A former co-worker that I just happen to be using as a sub today swears by them. We were both employed by the same contractor 15 years ago when we were sent out on a service call. No powered to the living room. We got there and I headed for the panel and he went to the living room. I'm taking the covers screws out and he's yelling down stairs "we have power " I yell up that the neutral may be lost, put a meter on it. I was taking out the last screw when he yelled down that he doesn't know why nothing works because we have power for probably the fifth time. I took the cover off, set it on the floor, and went upstairs. Acting like I was interested, I asked for his pen tester. He handed it to me and I broke in two right in front of the customer. 7 told him to use a meter.

Doesn't sound like he would be a good trouble shooter even with a meter

 

[evoluzione]

Just because the pen tester lights up doesn't mean it's live. You could be getting a false reading due to an induced voltage. That's not what pen testers are for. The switches could be wired wrong and the pen tester is doing what it's designed to do - let you know if the potential to get shocked is there. If you put a meter on it, you would know. Nobody can tell from the photos without a picture of both three way switches, and even then it might not be clear what the last guy did.

Thanks, I mean it's a brand new build, so I don't think there would be anything wrong other than possibly a switch wired the wrong way (it would be the first wrong wiring, of dozens of outlets, the electricians have wired for the house).
I'll give it a shot with the multimeter

 

[sparky 1971]

Thanks, I mean it's a brand new build, so I don't think there would be anything wrong other than possibly a switch wired the wrong way (it would be the first wrong wiring, of dozens of outlets, the electricians have wired for the house).
I'll give it a shot with the multimeter

I wouldn't bother with a meter unless the lights didn't work.

 

[BigGarage]

7 told him to use a meter.

 

[evoluzione]

well, I hooked up the first 2 lights successfully, now onto the remaining 7

thanks for the help guys