I have a electrical outlet in my room on a switch. I want to divert the wires in the attic so that I can install a ceiling light.The duplex electrical outlet has black, white, red, and ground wires attached. The wall switch has black, red, and ground attached. I connected black, red, and ground from the switch to my ceiling light. It does not work. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
you need a neutral to operate the light also which is not in your switch. the neutral is in the outlet box though, you can get it from there.
It seems that first of all only half of your duplex receptacle is switched, and also the switch may be a 3 way switch, I would call an electrician you already have the hard stuff done. An electrician will only charge a service fee to connect it properly.
you have no neutral wire! you need the white and the black from the outlet not the switchthe switch is controlling 1/2 of the duplex outletmost likely the red is the switched leg.
Typically there are only three wires to lights and duplex outlets. White, black and copper. The black is generally the hot, the white is the common and the copper is ground. Take a tester and check to see if the black is hot. (Touch one side to the black wire and the other to the copper wire.) If you have 110 volts or so then touch one end of the tester to the black and the other to the red. If it reads 110 - 130 volts, you have power there and the light should work. If not you'll need to run a white wire from the recept up to the light.
Only half of the outlet is switched, usually the top. The white is a neutral and feeds both top and bottom. If you look at the metal on the side of the outlet you will see that there is a break in it between the black and red screw but no break on the white side.To figure out which wire is switched insert a tester into the outlet with the switch off. When you determine which color stays hot then the other is the switched wire.To wire the light to the switch, use the switch wire and the white.
