Wiring w/no ground

ok.. so I was going to rewire the light overtop of the sink.... there is one black and one white wire.. no ground... I thought... no problem I can just run a ground wire down to the switch... no problem.... and then i made an assumption.. that since the lights breaker was off... so was the switch.... I was run... got a nice little shock.... the only thing that I could come up with is that one black wire goes to the breaker for the light and one doesnt... I dont know..... HELP!!! so here are some pictures of my light... (old light) will that work for me to run a ground down there?

Hello Shan:
No you can't run a ground from the light unless you replace the wire to include a ground wire. Personally, I would not worry about a ground because lights are usually out of reach anyway. I realize this one is not out of reach but I would still not worry about a ground.
Glenn

You certainly can run a ground circuit to this light w/o having to change out the wiring. Simply pull another wire and use only the ground. However, this never proves to be an easy task. As Glennjanie's mentioned; don't worry about the ground, just install your new fixture and ignore the ground wire on your new fixture. Chances are that the new fixture won't be wired the way your old one is. Your only going to need one of the black and one of the white from your old wires. Basically, remove the "Y" from the old wiring and use just the white & black coming out of the wall. If these leads don't have enough slack in them, splice on enough to make your connections and eliminate the other leg of the "Y".

If your really worried about it...you could install a GFCI in the line to this switch. At least then you have a saftey, and it does not need a ground.

ok so this switch below the light turns the light on and off..... there are two black wires on the switch.. the switch is not grounded.. and the two white wires are wire nutted together.... so... I dont really understand why it is I got shocked...... and I really hate to admit that since I have changed lots of outlets and ceiling fans....
I am assuming that this switch is on two different breakers.. the reasoning for that is because I forgot to remove and tape off the two extra wires in the old fixture.... when i flipped the switch to turn the old light back on (i quit because i dont have anything to attatch it to in the wall) a different breaker blew.... the breaker that the light itself is on is #9 on my box... but breaker 10 blew...... so..... am I right in assuming that one black and one white wire are on two different breakers ? and also.... if I use my new light... a) what do i do with the ground wire (if I dont add one) and then b.) how do I attatch it to the wall? it has the same brackets as a ceiling light does....
I may be slow in responding.. my computer was on breaker 10 and in the middle of downloading service pack 3... so currently it doesnt bootup properly...

Hello Shan:
The light could not be on 2 breakers because that would make it 220V. You must have just turned off the wrong breaker the first time, which also explains why you got shocked. The white wires should be togather in this case because it is just the common wire and the switch only breaks the hot wire.
You may attach the bar for the light with Molly screws or butterfly screws; it appears you only have the sheetrock to attach it to. Just fold the ground wire up and tape it to hold it out of the way.
Someone is going to say I should have told you to mount a box to secure the light to and that all connections are supposed to be in an accessible box. What I have told you to do is the same kind of wiring you have now (its called 'jack leg')
Glenn

I am sure that the light is on number 9... when i was installing my cabinets... I didnt have any light to see with because that breaker was off... that is why I do not understand why breaker 10 tripped... but... I will recheck everything on thurs or fri... my oldest will be 19 friday!!!! the way you said to wire it was what I was wanting to do... I can go back at another time when I am not so burnt out and put a box in a make it all pretty.... thanks for the advice as usual..... I will keep you updated...

A 19 year old child; I thought you were 23-25 yourself. Must have started awful young.
Glenn

I'm only seeing one circuit coming out of the wall, so this fixture is being powered by only one breaker. Test for power at the leads coming out of the wall w/the switch on and then see which breaker (9 or 10) kills power to the leads. The light fixture has individual circuits for each side (hot/neutral, left bulb & right bulb).

The wiring in your new fixture will most likely only have three leads (ground, hot & neutral). You won't be using the ground so you'll be connecting the remaining two leads from the fixture, to the two leads coming out of the wall.

I agree with glen, molly anchors. But there is something fishy with your wiring. I guess if the old light worked fine than wire the new one identically. And definately dont hook the ground wire to anything. My best advice for you is turn off all power in house before changing light. Its hard to give yourself c.p.r.

glennjanie said:

A 19 year old child; I thought you were 23-25 yourself. Must have started awful young.
Glenn

Click to expand...

hehehe..... I did start a little young.. but I will be 37 this year

triple D said:

I agree with glen, molly anchors. But there is something fishy with your wiring. I guess if the old light worked fine than wire the new one identically. And definately dont hook the ground wire to anything. My best advice for you is turn off all power in house before changing light. Its hard to give yourself c.p.r.

Click to expand...

advice noted... and.... I checked with multimeter after I got a nice little thrill the other day.. .there was nothing to the light and when I checked teh black wires on the switch it read 124... so.. yes something is fishy.... and yes the light worked fine until the oldest hit the box with the countertop then I just thought that the bulb burnt out so that is what prompted me to change the light at this point.... but... I am off work over the next few days and except for Chases birthday (19) I dont intend to do a whole lot... .... so I will update and ask questions if needed over the next few days..... and I will at least test the wires again with my multimeter... and possibly borrow one from my neighbor just to make sure it is working correctly

you guys are great

ok... so I wired the new light and the switch.... they are working well.... I am going to put in a junction box where the light is presently when I get the upper cabinets I think.... the drywall seems awfully soft around the opening... but... for now the light is working well and looks pretty good I just wish I could find some oil rubbed bronze paint so that the light I bought matched better.... but... it puts out the amount of light I wanted so I am happy

i'll post a pic at some point