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Replacing light fixture wire question

3 years ago

Replacing light fixture in bathroom. Wires from wall are silver, and all wires on new fixture is copper/gold looking, including the ground. i read its not good to connect silver to copper. What do I do? I live in a townhome built in the 70s. is that why its silver wire in the wall? pictures showing wire silver wire from wall and copper wire on new fixture.

thank you!




Comments (16)

  • 3 years ago

    Agree with Seabornman. I think that, once you get rid of those unnecessary pigtails, you'll find you have copper supply wires.

  • 3 years ago

    "Wires from wall are silver"

    1. Do NOT remove the black wire nuts from the new light.
    2. Unscrew the orange wire nuts and disconnect any old-light wires from the yellow and beige wires in the wall.
    3. Connect the new light's black wire to the yellow wire in the wall. Secure with a wire nut.
    4. Connect the new light's white to the beige wire in the wall. Secure with a wire nut.
    5. Attach the light's uninsulated ground wire to the green GND screw on the bracket.
    6. Attach the light to the bracket.
  • 3 years ago

    Ok. so I‘ll remove yellow wire nut first and see. If the wire from wall is copper, can i reuse the yellow wire nut to connect to new light?

    If the wire from the wall is AL, coming out of the yellow and beige lines, can I use the connector I bought…see picture.

    thank you!

  • 3 years ago



  • 3 years ago

    You really only needed connectors that connect two wires, not three, but if you use those and can stuff the connectors and all the wires back into the wall, ok.

  • 3 years ago

    You dont need those. new orange wires nuts that came with the new light are fine.



  • 3 years ago

    @dave: "You dont need those. new orange wires nuts that came with the new light are fine."

    If the wires in the wall area really aluminum, then she should not simply connect the aluminum and copper wires together with a common wire nut.

  • 3 years ago

    I see no evidence of aluminum wiring besides the old pig tails that were left from the previous light.

  • 3 years ago

    @dave: "I see no evidence of aluminum wiring..."

    That's because the yellow and beige wires in the wall that might be aluminum are covered by the orange wire nuts!

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    AND THEY SHOWED NO EVIDENCE OF THAT.

    The op should take the wire nuts off and show the wires if they want correct info.


    Also, please stop tagging me everytime.

  • 3 years ago

    Then stop misleading her!

  • 3 years ago

    I removed the orange wire nuts from the wall, and the wire from the wall is in fact copper! why did they connect copper to AL?! glad I never had any problems.

    New question, the wire from wall is solid copper. The wire from new light is not solid. New light does not come with any wire nuts. Can I use the old orange wire nuts to connect the wires? or do I now need yet a different connector?


    thank you for all your help!

  • 3 years ago

    I read a suggestion to strip 1/8” more of the stranded wire, use a wire nut to connect the wires, and then use electrical tape to tape wire nut to wire so wire dont pull out easily. Does that work?

  • 3 years ago

    "Can I use the old orange wire nuts to connect the wires?"

    Yes.

    "I read a suggestion..."

    Those instructions are fine but hold the wire nut and pull on each wire to make sure that the connection doesn't come apart before you wrap the electrical tape.

  • 3 years ago

    The "silver" wire is probably tinned copper, especially if it's stranded.

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