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Please be tolerant of a DIY question.
I am trying to replace the incandescent ceiling fixture in my bathroom. Circuit is turned off. I had to razor the paint away to remove the fixture. Turns out the paint is what was holding it up there. There is no outlet box up there in the ceiling, just wires, and the old fixture’s mounting strap was afixed by one screw to the sheetrock. So I am walking away and calling an electrician this week.
My question. Can I turn back on the circuit to that part of the house, with the naked wires hanging 6 inches out of the ceiling like that, or should I leave the circuit off until an electrician comes? Should I cap the end of the naked wires with tape or one of those plastic electrical wire caps?
Thanks in advance.
Replies
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Theodora,
Spin some wire caps on the bare ends and maybe secure with some electrical tape. THEN turn the breaker back on.
It would be best to probably leave the breaker off but I guarantee that something else you want to be able to use (another light, vanity light, even receptacle) is on that same circuit. So unless you want to do without, capping and taping the wires is the way to go.
Just don't cap the two or three wires TOGETHER! No insult intended but I have heard of people doing it...
Mike
*Thanks, Mike,I haven't fried myself yet! (I really wouldn't have started the project unless I knew that much. But my husband might have capped them together for sure!)Yes I need the circuit on in that part of the house, so I'm off to cap and tape!
*"Please be tolerant of a DIY question"You act sensibly, don't do anything stupid to give us a chance for a good chuckle at your expense, and then ask us to be tolerant? Come on, what you think we are? Sensitive and tolerant or something?
*Yea everyone knows how sensitive i am. Hey Theodora dumb question but maybe there is a box there behind the drywall and the strap is attached to it from the outside the drywall with long screws attaching the strap to the box. Didja go up in the attic and check it out for sure??
*There's a hole in the ceiling big enough for me to put my fist through, and after I pulled out a bit of insulation and let all the mouse crap fall down on my head, I stuck the flashlight up there, and there is only a wire, draped across a ceiling joist and hanging down into the bathroom. Truly, the paint was holding the fixture to the ceiling. No sign of anything that a fixture might be attached to. No, Ron, I don't fit into the opening into the attic! It's about 15 x15 inches.This is a house where all the sinks were plumbed with the hot and cold backwards. I'm no longer surprised at what I find. Like when the vinyl was being put up a few years ago, on the side of the shed dormer, and I was in the bedroom and saw the siding nails coming through the bedroom walls. It's all a learning experience.All's I know is, if any of you "construction guys" come over to "Sprout Off" and ask us the horticultural equivalent of, "should I be playing with electricity?" we'll never let you hear the end of it. We are mean, and merciless, and fresh-mouthed, and frighten innocent newbie gardeners right and left. Be afraid. hee hee
*Here's something the sparky might (emphasis) not think of - depending on the weight of your fixture, present or future. Use a box designed for ceiling fan installation that has expandable threaded rod for the bars that will bite into the ceiling joists.The plastic caps you will be using will likely be brown or orange in color. With the breaker off, snip the wires until you have about 3/8" of bare straight wire. Screw the cap on and add about 2 to 3 turns of elec tape. Tuck the wires up into the ceiling and have a cocktail.
*This sounds like it could be one of those tip of the iceberg kind of things. If there's no box, are the wires from a romex cable, or just draped loose in the attic? If there's a switch controlling this, does it have a box? You and/or your electrician should take a thorough look around for all the things which may be dangerous in the whole circuit and system.-- J.S.
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Please be tolerant of a DIY question.
I am trying to replace the incandescent ceiling fixture in my bathroom. Circuit is turned off. I had to razor the paint away to remove the fixture. Turns out the paint is what was holding it up there. There is no outlet box up there in the ceiling, just wires, and the old fixture's mounting strap was afixed by one screw to the sheetrock. So I am walking away and calling an electrician this week.
My question. Can I turn back on the circuit to that part of the house, with the naked wires hanging 6 inches out of the ceiling like that, or should I leave the circuit off until an electrician comes? Should I cap the end of the naked wires with tape or one of those plastic electrical wire caps?
Thanks in advance.