Continuing with my bathroom gut-n-remodel... I have two questions (I'll post separate threads).
We are replacing all of the lights, the fan/light combo, and moving the GFI outlet. The house was built in '62, but the electric panel was updated by the previous owner (maybe 15 years back). They did not re-pull all the wires, but everything I've found is old 15 amp romex cable with woven covers and it appears in good shape.
The original configuration was two can lights near the sink and one can light in the shower. These were on two separate switches. Originally there was also a Nutone fan/light/heater combo in the center of the ceiling. This unit appeared original, but the switch had obviously been updated at some point (it had a digital clock and timer, and the wiring coming to it from the attic was plastic covered, not woven). A few years back I replaced the fan/light/heater and it's switch, but I didn't move any wires - I just marked the wires and swapped the units.
I have opened up the bathroom walls and moved several of the spices into junction boxes (they were just behind the plaster). When I did this, it seemed that I was getting continuity between a hot and neutral wire, with the breaker shut off. Up in the attic, all of the splices are in boxes, but they are small and crowded, so I need to move the wires into larger boxes and screw them to the joists. Based on this, my plan was to identify the wires coming in (the line) and simply rewire everything from there, from scratch.
In tracing the wires it appeared that there was was one line coming in and one load going out to another part of the house, post-bathroom. (The other possibility was two hot lines coming in - one from one part of the attic and one from another, and somehow joining in a junction box). To figure out which cable was line and which was load I shut off the breaker to the bathroom, confirmed that it was dead with my volt meter and went to unscrew half of an outlet that was in this circuit, but in another room on a shared wall. If the bathroom lights worked when I turned power back on, and the outlet was dead, I'd know which side was incoming (line). If the outlet worked but the lights were out, then the path went the other way. (Any problems with that logic?)
With the outlet confirmed dead, I started unscrewing the neutral on one side of it. All of a sudden, the lights came back on in the bathroom (yikes!). I checked the outlet again and I was reading current, but only about 90V. At this point I shut down the master breaker, re-wired the outlet as original, and brought everything back on line. Voltage in that outlet went back to 115V and everything works the same way it has since we bought the house. (The one thing I didn't do was to test breakers when the outlet was partially un-wired, to determine which other circuit was providing power - at this point I was too hot, tired, and frustrated to think clearly.)
I'm about ready to call in a trained electrician, but I have one more thought. If, indeed, there are two lines coming in, and at some point they were joined in a junction box, what if I separate them out? I would dedicate one circuit to the new mirror and shower lights and the other circuit to the new fan/light combo. If I shut off the house power, and un-wire both of the suspected incoming lines, I should be able to determine which breakers they are on (and if, indeed, they are both "line" cables).
Any thoughts on what's going on and how to proceed would be appreciated!
We are replacing all of the lights, the fan/light combo, and moving the GFI outlet. The house was built in '62, but the electric panel was updated by the previous owner (maybe 15 years back). They did not re-pull all the wires, but everything I've found is old 15 amp romex cable with woven covers and it appears in good shape.
The original configuration was two can lights near the sink and one can light in the shower. These were on two separate switches. Originally there was also a Nutone fan/light/heater combo in the center of the ceiling. This unit appeared original, but the switch had obviously been updated at some point (it had a digital clock and timer, and the wiring coming to it from the attic was plastic covered, not woven). A few years back I replaced the fan/light/heater and it's switch, but I didn't move any wires - I just marked the wires and swapped the units.
I have opened up the bathroom walls and moved several of the spices into junction boxes (they were just behind the plaster). When I did this, it seemed that I was getting continuity between a hot and neutral wire, with the breaker shut off. Up in the attic, all of the splices are in boxes, but they are small and crowded, so I need to move the wires into larger boxes and screw them to the joists. Based on this, my plan was to identify the wires coming in (the line) and simply rewire everything from there, from scratch.
In tracing the wires it appeared that there was was one line coming in and one load going out to another part of the house, post-bathroom. (The other possibility was two hot lines coming in - one from one part of the attic and one from another, and somehow joining in a junction box). To figure out which cable was line and which was load I shut off the breaker to the bathroom, confirmed that it was dead with my volt meter and went to unscrew half of an outlet that was in this circuit, but in another room on a shared wall. If the bathroom lights worked when I turned power back on, and the outlet was dead, I'd know which side was incoming (line). If the outlet worked but the lights were out, then the path went the other way. (Any problems with that logic?)
With the outlet confirmed dead, I started unscrewing the neutral on one side of it. All of a sudden, the lights came back on in the bathroom (yikes!). I checked the outlet again and I was reading current, but only about 90V. At this point I shut down the master breaker, re-wired the outlet as original, and brought everything back on line. Voltage in that outlet went back to 115V and everything works the same way it has since we bought the house. (The one thing I didn't do was to test breakers when the outlet was partially un-wired, to determine which other circuit was providing power - at this point I was too hot, tired, and frustrated to think clearly.)
I'm about ready to call in a trained electrician, but I have one more thought. If, indeed, there are two lines coming in, and at some point they were joined in a junction box, what if I separate them out? I would dedicate one circuit to the new mirror and shower lights and the other circuit to the new fan/light combo. If I shut off the house power, and un-wire both of the suspected incoming lines, I should be able to determine which breakers they are on (and if, indeed, they are both "line" cables).
Any thoughts on what's going on and how to proceed would be appreciated!
