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From: William R. Walsh on 3 Jul 2010 18:35
Hi!

> Can anyone take a guess as to where the on/off switch would be located for
> this old garage light fixture?

My guess is that it would be switched with one of the other fixtures you
mentioned...and that there is another problem, possibly with the fixture
that does not work. Given that it seems to be an outdoor fixture, this seems
very plausible.

While you might find building plans, I'd say that it is fairly unlikely to
expect that you will find wiring plans beyond what (if anything) is printed
inside the fuse or circuit breaker box.

William


From: Jim on 4 Jul 2010 03:35
A general thanks to all who replied. I know this was a long shot for an
online question.

The main mystery is that the only visible switches control the inside
garage light (seen in photo) and the light outside the small garage door.
It is not a detached garage, as someone implied.

If one of those two wall switches (inside the garage) also controls the
high outside garage light, it wasn't a very practical setup - to have two
lights on at once, inside and out. Is that a known common configuration
from the old days?

Taking apart the wires in the box isn't practical at the moment (long
story) but I'm sure some answer lies therein. I might end up bypassing the
existing wire entirely and routing a temp. wire from a regular wall plug.

Jim
From: KR on 4 Jul 2010 05:31
On Jul 3, 12:02 pm, Jim <jim857...(a)jim.com> wrote:
> See this photo for reference:http://www.badongo.com/pic/9827256
>
> The white-sheated wire goes to the dead fixture and terminates inside its
> box.
>
> Can anyone take a guess as to where the on/off switch would be located for
> this old garage light fixture? It's in a California house built in the
> early 1950s. The previous owners never got the fixture to work, and when it
> last worked is a mystery.
>
> The main ceiling bulb inside the garage works fine, along with a light
> outside above the man-door (one of two; the other leads to the kitchen).
> Both of those fixtures are operated with wall switches next to their
> respective doors.
>
> But the outside spotlight high above the big "garage door" hasn't worked in
> decades and nobody knows where the switch is supposed to be. I opened the
> wiring box (shown closed in that photo) and couldn't find any sign of a
> pull-chain switch. The wires are so jammed in that it was hard to trace
> them back outside the box. Didn't want to risk pulling on them, as they
> seem brittle.
>
> This may be hard to fugure out online, but if anyone knows where a 1950s
> garage switch might TYPICALLY be located, please advise. I've looked all
> over inside the garage and may have to get the contractor's wiring diagram
> somehow.
>
> Thanks. Jim


I don't know how things are done in the US, but I have yet to hear of
an electrical contractor making
such a diagram for a residential install, and even if he did, you
would have Buckleys chance of ever finding it unless it was in the
house.

I would consider it also very likely that the contractor and others
involved would now be dead, or pretty close to that state.

If you think that the wire is brittle - GET IT REPLACED - otherwise
you have serious risk of an electrical fire.
especially if any insulation fell off, or was in the bottom of that
box when you opened it.

At that point, get a switch installed for the light in question, and
be done with it.


From: William Sommerwerck on 4 Jul 2010 05:32
> If one of those two wall switches (inside the garage) also
> controls the high outside garage light, it wasn't a very
> practical setup -- to have two lights on at once, inside
> and out.

That was my point. There would be no point in controlling the outside light
for the garage from /within/ the garage.

You need to look in the house for a switch that doesn't seem to do anything.


From: nesesu on 4 Jul 2010 13:46
On Jul 3, 3:35 pm, "William R. Walsh"
<newsgrou...(a)idontwantjunqueemail.walshcomptech.com> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> > Can anyone take a guess as to where the on/off switch would be located for
> > this old garage light fixture?
>
> My guess is that it would be switched with one of the other fixtures you
> mentioned...and that there is another problem, possibly with the fixture
> that does not work. Given that it seems to be an outdoor fixture, this seems
> very plausible.
>
> While you might find building plans, I'd say that it is fairly unlikely to
> expect that you will find wiring plans beyond what (if anything) is printed
> inside the fuse or circuit breaker box.
>
> William

If you had the original blueprints for the house, it should have all
the original switches, lights and outlets shown, and there should be a
dotted line from each switch to the light fixture it operates. Now,
there is no guarantee that the contractor followed the plans, and
there could easily have been changes made later, but that should, at
least, provide a clue. Clearly the box pictured has been altered some
time after original construction since the [what appears to be] 3 wire
cable is of a later manufacture from the original black Romex.

Neil S.
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