Why does my light fixture have 3 wires?

The simple explanation is that a 2-wire system does not include a Neutral wire at the light switch, the 3-wire system does include the Neutral at the switch.
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What is the third wire on a light fixture?

The third copper colored wire is the ground wire. Twist the exposed parts of the white wires together clockwise, then screw the wire nut onto the ends.
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Why do lights have three wires?

A 3-way switch makes it easy to turn on a light fixture from two separate locations in the home. Wiring one is slightly different from wiring a single-pole switch. In a standard, single-pole switch, one light switch controls one light fixture—on/off.
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Why does my ceiling light have 3 white wires?

The black wire is the hot wire, the white wires are neutral and ground is ground. You need to connect the black wire of your light fixture to the black ceiling wire, the white wire fixture to the 3 white wires, and the ground wire to the ground wire.
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Will a light fixture work if wired wrong?

Tip. The fixture still works if you reverse the wires, but the socket sleeve will be hot, and anyone who touches it while changing a bulb can get a shock. When wired correctly, the socket sleeve is neutral and only the small metal tab at the base of the socket is hot.
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A light fixture wiring dilemma



Why are neutral wires tied together?

The neutrals were all tied together to make one group so it doesnt matter which one makes it to the switch.
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What are the white wires in a light fixture?

The white wire is the "neutral" wire, it takes any unused electricity and current and sends it back to the breaker panel. The green wire (or it can sometimes be uncolored) wire is the "ground" wire, it will take electricity back to the breaker panel, then outside to a rod that's buried in the ground.
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What happens if a ceiling fan is not grounded?

So if you wire your fan without the ground wire, it will still work properly. However, the added safety of the ground wire will not be present. If you decide to wire your fan without the ground proceed to the next step.
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How many wires are in a ceiling light?

A standard box for a light fixture will have three wires, a white (neutral), black (current), and copper (ground.)
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What is the third wire for?

Three-conductor wire has two hots — black and red — and a white neutral. Though normally used for three-way switching, three-conductor wire is commonly used for duplex receptacle wiring as well. For a partially switched receptacle, for example, you would break off the tab on the brass side of the receptacle.
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What is the 3rd wire?

Definition of three-wire system

: a constant potential system of electric distribution in which lamps or other receiving devices are connected between either one of two main conductors and a third wire and motors and heavy duty appliances are usually connected across the main conductors.
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Can you connect 2 wires to 3?

You can retrofit your 2-wire outlets with new 3-wire or GFCI receptacles in the same outlet box without any rewiring. However, the box itself must be grounded.
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Can black and white wires go together?

Then turn on the power afterward. In that case, that same spark will take place at the fuse or breaker. Both cases are really dangerous. You shouldn't connect the black and white wires together!
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What happens if you mix up the hot and neutral wires?

This happens when the hot and neutral wires get flipped around at an outlet, or upstream from an outlet. Reversed polarity creates a potential shock hazard, but it's usually an easy repair.
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What color wires go together for a ceiling light?

One of the black and white wires goes to the light fixture. The other black and white wires are the electrical circuit for the switch. If the light can be turned on or off from switches at each side of the room, you'll see a blue wire that connects the electrical circuits for three-way switches.
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What do you do with an unused neutral wire?

It's supposed to be marked/taped though to designate this. Alternatively, it could simply be an unused neutral leg that was brought in with the hot leg and should just be capped if not used. Newer building codes require you to run a neutral leg to switch boxes so that things can be "run" from the box.
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Can I tap into any neutral wire?

According to 2011 National Electrical Code article 300.3(B), No. For verbiage, see this answer. For one explanation why, see this answer. Another reason not to do it, is because you could end up overloading the grounded (neutral) conductor.
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What is the difference between single pole and 3 way switch?

The most common household switch, a single-pole, has two terminals and simply turns power on or off. A three-way switch has three terminals; a four-way has four.
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What is a 3 way light switch?

A 3-way switch is larger than a single pole switch and has three screw terminals for wiring connections, plus a ground. Two of these take traveler wires that go from one switch to the other. For the third terminal, one switch is connected to the hot supply wire while the other switch is joined to the light.
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