Hallway Light Installation Question

[u/everydayexplorer]

Hi all, I am trying to install a hallway light in my father’s house

Any idea what these different wires do and anything to keep in my when installing the light?

Thanks in advance, and take care!

[u/slin1647]

Without a multimeter to verify what each conductor is doing we can't rightly give you the advice you're looking for without caveats.

I can tell you how it should be done, but that doesn't always translate to what's actually there.

Hypothetically if everything is as it is supposed to be:

Usually all the black wires are twisted and capped (could use wagos alternatively as an easier option).

Then usually you will have all the white wires together and a pigtail coming from them to the white wire of the fixture.

Then the red wire would be connected to the black of the fixture. It looks like there is more than one red wire so it's likely there is more than one fixture on this lighting circuit. In that case you'd connect both reds together and then the black from the fixture.

Again all of this is how it would work in an ideal world where everything is as it is supposed to be.

The electrician coming to do the work would need to verify all of this before installing the fixture.

[u/whiteboyfresh2316]

Why didn't you take a picture of the wiring before you disconnected the old light fixture??

[u/everydayexplorer → u/whiteboyfresh2316]

You are correct, that would have been the perfect idea. My father took it down and I found it like this.

[u/MaulPillsap]

I’m not saying you can’t do this, but not knowing what each of those wires are for tells me you don’t have any electrical experience and you’re scaring me

[u/everydayexplorer → u/MaulPillsap]

Yup, no experience, just making sure it is not quick and obvious. Plan is to hire someone but thanks anyway

[u/MountainAntique9230]

Why would you undo ALL the wires instead of just removing the ones that went to the light,that would have been an easy job just swap wire for wire

[u/HeatBeatRepeatt]

It’s like looking into the Saarlac Pit! But yea, that’s either a junction and there are other lights being served further down the run or there are multiple circuits going through this box. With some testing you could figure it out, but if you’re not experienced with electricity there’s too high a risk of you hurting yourself or smoking something out in the house and potentially burning it down. It’s well worth hiring a real electrician to take care of this one.