my old light fixture had 2 white wires (from ceiling) twisted together and connected to a screw, it also had a green wire (from ceiling)connected to it with a screw.no black wires were connected to light fixture although they are 3 wires in the ceiling taped off together.how do i test for hot wire, i got a tester that lights up.i got a new light fixture that has 3 wires, 1 wht 1blk and copper.i know the copper goes with green, white with white and black with black. so i untangled the black wires, and i connected one to new light.but now my new light doesnt turn off.so i know i by passed my switch.how do i test for hot wire....where does the hot wire go?is it possible one of the white wires is my hot wire and the other white whire my neutral....so help please, im confused and frustrated
you are in a older home where there was no black wire. you that your tester ,and put one end to the gound then that the other end to the other wire one at a time to see if is hot . one will and the ohrer not. if you have a switch then trun it . and off to make sure it work those wire . some old light had pall chains to trun the light on.
get a voltage tester and test all the wires to th ground wire with the switches on that should let you know what is hot
with lights you can have many things going on and the colors may not be indicitive to what wire it is. Especially if there is more than one switch or light. So you really have to know what is going on. It sounds to me like you have more than one switch. This means those white wires that were bundled together have to stay together. you should have someone else flick the switches. Look up switch leg on google, and you will see various ways this is done.
The white wires are fine, their just neutrals. Wire up the three black wires in the ceiling with the black wire from the fixture. It should work.
It sounds like the old fixture may have been improperly wired. It should not have had the green wire going to one side (screw) with the white wires going to the other side of the fixture. The green wire is normally a ground, and is only connected to the housing of the fixture - it's purpose is solely for safety, in case the hot side comes in contact with the metal fixture housing (it blows the breaker by design rather than being an electrocution hazard). Typically, the hot (black) wire is switched, and the neutrals bypass the switch. Your best bet is to search online for a wiring diagram for a switched light fixture, print it out and working with your test light, find the switched hot wire by measuring from each wire to the ground wire (for convenience only - hopefully it is really grounded) with the switch set in both directions. Note the results on the diagram, and that should help you sort it out.
