Strange light wiring problem.

[6PTsocket]

[emoji38] [emoji38] [emoji38] [emoji38]

I dont think u realize who youre trying to educate.

Zmax is a licensed electrician and knows way more about this subject than what youre trying to teach im.

And BTW, his statement was correct. If bulbs are wired in series and one goes out u loose the whole string of lights because the circuit is no open aka there is no continuity between bulbs. The same thing happens with christmas lights that are wired in series.

True, loosening a bulb will make the whole string go out and if you wire something totally wrong and the bulbs are barely lit, who gives a s**t what happens if you loosen a bulb. Not that it matters but I worked for fifty years in military, automotive, recording studio and industrial electronics in high power 3 phase electronics and I don't have to be told how to wire a couple of light bulbs. The fact is, the OP already accepted what we told him and got the wire to rewire as we suggested. I tried to clarify it for some that might not be familiar with simple wiring but there is always some unappreciative troll that has to get nasty. If you choose to not believe me that is your right but hold the BS.

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[cdestuck]

So update here and all is well. I pulled the 14-2 wiring out from the first light on and replaced with 14-3. Ran the black wire from power to the remote switch at the other end of the lights. returned the power from the switch to the black wire of each light fixture. So now I'm happy, I've learned something I didn't know before and have plenty of light.

I do have one question though. When I had it wired wrong, in series, why were the lights all dim? Did the filaments in each of the bulbs act as resistors and reduce the amps or what caused this dimming? Thanks for alls help

 

[ard]

I do have one question though. When I had it wired wrong, in series, why were the lights all dim? Did the filaments in each of the bulbs act as resistors and reduce the amps or what caused this dimming? Thanks for alls help

Sort of. Bulbs always 'act like resistors'. You had them in series...

In parallel each bulb 'sees' the full 120Volts across it.

In series, each bulb only sees one quarter of the voltage (when you have 4 bulbs all the same watts). So while a 100W bulb on a 120V circuit is bright. that 100W bulb only getting 30V is dim. Take one out and it now 'gets' 120/3 or 40V. Take 2 out and it is 120/2=60V.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

True, loosening a bulb will make the whole string go out and if you wire something totally wrong and the bulbs are barely lit, who gives a s**t what happens if you loosen a bulb. Not that it matters but I worked for fifty years in military, automotive, recording studio and industrial electronics in high power 3 phase electronics and I don't have to be told how to wire a couple of light bulbs. The fact is, the OP already accepted what we told him and got the wire to rewire as we suggested. I tried to clarify it for some that might not be familiar with simple wiring but there is always some unappreciative troll that has to get nasty. If you choose to not believe me that is your right but hold the BS.

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Woa nelly. Do u have a reading comprehension issue? Where did i EVER say i didnt believe u?

I was merely pointing out that the person u were correcting is a licensed electrician and most definitely knows what hea talking about. U directly quoted him so u u werent "clarifying for some" u were "clarifying"(as u call it) him by saying he was wrong.

Im a Troll?? That couldnt be any farther from the truth.

If u think im a nasty troll u should read all the threads where i have offered my help to others.

 

[CJ7VFR]

Woa nelly.....Im a Troll?? That couldnt be any farther from the truth.

If u think im a nasty troll u should read all the threads where i have offered my help to others.

Yeah, we all know your a troll.......with over 6 thousand posts, and thousands of replies that have helped people either fix their problems, or helping people, including myself, use the proper items and procedures on our wiring projects....

So yes, you are a troll of the highest caliber.......

So please don't stop being a troll....

Jim

 

[CJ7VFR]

So update here and all is well. I pulled the 14-2 wiring out from the first light on and replaced with 14-3. Ran the black wire from power to the remote switch at the other end of the lights. returned the power from the switch to the black wire of each light fixture. So now I'm happy, I've learned something I didn't know before and have plenty of light....Thanks for alls help

Excellent! Glad it worked out, and that you fixed it yourself.

The best part is that now you know what needs to be done for your next project or if you find another issue with a similar situation.

That is what the forum is all about!

Jim

 

[6PTsocket]

So update here and all is well. I pulled the 14-2 wiring out from the first light on and replaced with 14-3. Ran the black wire from power to the remote switch at the other end of the lights. returned the power from the switch to the black wire of each light fixture. So now I'm happy, I've learned something I didn't know before and have plenty of light.

I do have one question though. When I had it wired wrong, in series, why were the lights all dim? Did the filaments in each of the bulbs act as resistors and reduce the amps or what caused this dimming? Thanks for alls help

Now, all the bulbs are directly connected to the 120 volts; one side of the line goes to each bulb and puts the full voltage accross it. Before, you had the 4 bulbs wired in a string with the ends of the string across the 120 volt line. The voltage divided up between the bulbs so each one only got 30 volts. If you had a different number of bulbs the brightness would have been different. With 2 bulbs there would have been 60 volts across each bulb and they would have been brighter but still dim. This is called a series circuit, where all the devices are in a daisy chain across the voltage. What you ended up with is called a parallel circuit, where all the devices are all directly connected to the power source. All the recptacles in your house are in parallel. The toaster does not get it's voltage through the microwave.

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[6PTsocket]

Woa nelly. Do u have a reading comprehension issue? Where did i EVER say i didnt believe u?

I was merely pointing out that the person u were correcting is a licensed electrician and most definitely knows what hea talking about. U directly quoted him so u u werent "clarifying for some" u were "clarifying"(as u call it) him by saying he was wrong.

Im a Troll?? That couldnt be any farther from the truth.

If u think im a nasty troll u should read all the threads where i have offered my help to others.

You said "do you know who you are talking to?" As if I were lecturing Thomas Edison" If you read the follow up posts, the OP fixed his problem with the advise that several of us offered. He then asked about the very thing that I was attempting to explain. That "lecture" was aimed to answer his question and if you saw it as contradicting your electrical guru, that is not my problem. I was posting for the OP, not you or your electrician. I threw it out there for anyone to beleive me or not and did not expect to be talked down to by you.

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