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Question:

Unknown capped wires in ceiling fixture?

I'm looking to install a ceiling fan in a fixture that recently had just a light (no idea if it ever had a fan). When I removed the old light, I found that there were three white wires from the ceiling twisted together and connected to the white wire on the light fixture, one black wire from the ceiling connected to the black wire on the fixture, and three black and one white ceiling wires just capped together, not connected to the light fixture.Any idea what the last 4 wires are? I would think that I just need to leave them alone, however, I have to replace the box in the ceiling with one that is rated for a fan, which means I need to (temporarily) disconnect them. I have the breaker turned off that turned the light off, but can I be 100% sure that power to those other 4 wires if also off?

Answer:

You don't have to know what they are, but other anwers are good esp with regard to safety. You can choose either to leave them alone or disconnect them and reconnect them inside your new ceiling box. If you want to disconnect them, be sure to mark all the cables first so you can't make a mistake when you reconnect them.
The three white wires are your neutral wires. the one black wire connected to your fixture is the wire coming from your switch. The white wire connected to the black wires are the hot wires. That one white wire connected to the black wires carries the electricity to the switch then feeds it back to the fixture on the single black wire. I never trust wire until I check it for voltage, even with a breaker off.
Cotton is right and even though you have low voltage I shut the main off to for sure when I am on a ladder because even the little shock might be enough to make you lose your balance and fall

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