Hey! Im trying to fix a rental property i have and this is the first time ive done any work to it. When i arrived the hallway light was not working. It has a switch at each side of the hall. It has White/Black/Red wires. I tried installing a new light and without touching the wires i tried to install it off the white/Black wires and i couldnt recieve power. I tried messing around and cant seem to figure it out. Is the red wire needed for a simple hallway light? What is it there for? . also maybe related in one of the bedrooms i have an elec outlet plug i replaced and worked for about a day Then randomly it stopped working and i checked the wire connection to the plug and they seem fine. i also tried a new outlet plug to see if that was the problem (it wasnt) what could be the problem it is the only outlet in the room that doesnt work. Thanks!!
Sounds like a three way switch. To see a diagram google Three way switch diagram, you will see how they are wired . The outlet problem may get its power via jumper from a switch, or you more than likely have a loose or broken wire (could be the black or white wire). Black is the power wire, white is the neutral, if either is loose or broken no power will go through the outlet. So, you will need to track both wires to see where they problem originates.
First off the bedroom plug. Might be hooked into the room light switch. I have seen that happen. Take a try. It is common practice for a living room plug to be activated by a wall switch. Now the hallway. Before you start turn off the power and use a flashlight. Better alive than dead. You have 2 light switches - one at each end of the hallway, right? You turn on the light at one end, go down the hall and turn off the light with the other switch. Right? Those are 3 way switches. They require 3 wires (black,white(or it could be yellow), and red and a ground(either green or bare copper or bare alunimum) in order for that system to work. I am working on that right now in a hall way. First off your light switches must have 3 screws going into them and none of the screws are green. Now there are 2 wires coming down from the light(I am not counting the bare copper wire.) so essentially 3. One black one white and one copper. In the light switch box you should have 4 wires coming from the other switch black/white/red/copper(or green) Join the whites together and cap them. The black from the other switch should go to the bottom of one edge of the switch. On the same edge on the top hook the other black wire from the light. On the opposite edge is a single screw. Hook the red. Now twist the coppers together and stuff them in the box out of the way (they can touch the sides of the box - it doesn't matter as these wires are ground. You have done one switch. Do the other one identically. Done. Turn on the power. If the breaker blows right away - that means somewhere you have a colored wire touching ground or another colored wire. Fix it usinng the flashlight again. Do not use electricians tape. Not in household AC wiring.
No it doesn't matter which terminals the 2 black wires go into as long as one of them is in the Live and one in the Neutral. The other is as you've correctly put, the Earth. If the fitting has a terminal to put an Earth cable then it should really have one fitted. It's a safety issue there to help prevent you from getting a fatal electrical shock if the fitting should go faulty. Disregard at your peril! Not all light fittings need an earth but those that don't will not have an earth terminal and are what they call double insulated (on the fitting there will be a symbol of two squares one inside the other) I would strongly advise ensuring you have one fitted.
It sounds like you know almost nothing about electricity, and will burn your house down. While it may vary, you would usually need to connect the red wire, since that usually indicates a live wire. You should take a class or two on home maintenance and electricity (or a physics class) in order to understand the basics.
