Dear Mr. Electrician: How do I repair a broken attic light?
Answer: Before I can tell you how to repair a broken attic light, I need to know the type of light fixture and if it is accessible. The year that the house was built can be helpful.
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A client called to have me repair an attic light socket. Below is what it looked like when I arrived.
The client asked if a wall switch could be installed instead of replacing the pull chain light socket that required entering halfway into the attic to access the string. It was an easy run of 14/2 Romex cable from the existing attic ceiling electrical box down to a new cut-in metal box that I installed.
The access to the attic was through the back of a closet and that’s where the client wanted the switch. I used a metal old-work electrical box with attached support clips for clamping to the drywall.
NOTE: The bare copper equipment grounding conductor from the 14/2 Romex cable is wrapped around a 10/32 screw and a pigtail was created to connect to the switch. That is now an electrical code violation. The current code requires a separate grounding pigtail for grounding the metal box. Read Article 250.148(C) in the National Electrical Code.
You can read my article about grounding switches and outlets here.
The white wire wrapped with red electrical tape is the switch leg and is connected directly to the black wire on the new keyless light socket.
I have opened up many electrical switches and found a white and black wire on the switch. In almost all cases the white was the hot LINE conductor and the black was the LOAD or switch leg. The photo below is an example.
The image below depicts how the white wire from the switch is commonly connected to the group of LINE wires. This is why the white wire is often LIVE. The color of the wire should have been changed during installation.
The completed attic light repair is below. A wall switch controls the attic light now instead of a pull chain.
For helpful information visit my Light Switch Wiring Diagrams article.
If you have flickering lights, read my article about that.
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