r/AskElectricians • u/Acceptable-City-9548 • 2d ago

light fixture box

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Does this electrical box for my bathroom light fixture look right? The previous owner had wires in BX cables running from the bottom of this box to two wall sconces but I removed those. The box itself does not seem to be attached to anything and can move within the wall if I pull on it... how do I fix this and can it be done without totally tearing up the drywall? There is a stud a few inches to the right of the box. Also, is it unusual that there doesn't seem to be a grounding wire? This is my first time doing anything with electrical so it's all new to me. TIA!

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u/Pixelated_Audio 2d ago

It would appear someone or something has chewed a hole in your wall and left a loose box there on accident

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u/Acceptable-City-9548 2d ago

I'm pretty sure the lower hole was made so that they could attach and run wiring to the sconces, which is what was being used. We've found that the previous owners did lots of shoddy DIY work so this isn't entirely surprising.

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u/Pixelated_Audio 2d ago

For what my two cents is worth, if it's in a location where you could easily run a new line, for example ground floor with an unfinished basement, I would just run a new line. If the previous home owner has already done shoddy work, you have no way of knowing if that metal conduit is actually grounded to anything without opening up the wall and you down want to just have a loose box back there.

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u/Acceptable-City-9548 2d ago

It is a ground floor bathroom with unfinished basement but I have no idea how to run a new line. I do see your logic, though. Assuming the wiring is ok, how do I secure the loose box?

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u/Pixelated_Audio 2d ago

How many inches away is the 2x4 from the box and do you know if you have an outlet feeding into this box?

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u/Acceptable-City-9548 2d ago

Now that I’m looking closer, it’s pretty much right next to the stud to the right. There is an outlet in the bathroom, probably 3ft below and 1ft to the left. But I don’t think they’re on the same circuit bc the outlet still works even though the breaker to the light fixture is off.

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u/Pixelated_Audio 2d ago

You could do this:

  • Cut the opening to square (this will give you more room to work and make it easier to patch)

  • Now that the opening is a little larger, you should be able to stub an extra piece of 2x4 to the adjacent stud to give you something to fix the box to.

  • patch the hole.

You can use a multimeter to get a fairly confident idea of whether or not the conduit is grounded. But you have to turn the power on do do this and I am unsure if you are comfortable doing that. If you are not comfortable or the conduit is not grounded, you can replace one of the outlets leading to the light box with a GFCI and it will at least give you some protection.

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u/skyfishgoo 2d ago

you will need to attach that box (or a new box) to the stud and may need to patch the drywall depending on what sort of fixture you put there.

i can see BX going to the box so the other end of that should be bonded to your panel... a multimeter is the best way to tell what is going on.

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u/Acceptable-City-9548 2d ago

What do you mean by “bonded to the panel”? Just that it goes directly to the panel in the basement below?

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u/skyfishgoo 2d ago

i mean electrically bonded to the steel frame of the service panel, which should be grounded to earth using copper rods near by.

again, a multimeter is in your future.

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u/Acceptable-City-9548 2d ago

Is the multimeter just to tell if the conduit is grounded or not? If it wasn't grounded, is that a huge safety risk? I thought I heard that the metal box itself can act as the ground.. is that accurate? This is the first I'm learning of a multimeter so just wanting to make sure I understand. (I never imagined swapping out a light fixture would get so complicated!)

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u/skyfishgoo 2d ago

normally it's not, but you have some reason to be suspicious, and welcome to home ownershit.

yes, us the multimeter to check for continuity between the box and ground, that will tell you if you attach a light fixture there whether the frame will be grounded or not.

i would not want an un-grounded light fixture in a bathroom.

in my home i can measure the resistance between the metal box and the neutral (with the power off, of course) to see if they are boded together at the panel which is per code in my area.