light bar

1. The fixture is 3 1/2 years old
2. The bulbs are 40 watt
3. the fixture is hard-wired to a wall switch

why can't I just turn off the power at the switch?

Not cryptic. Turn the fixture on. Turn off the circuit breakers or unscrew the fuses in your fuse box one by one. Each time you turn a circuit breaker off, look at the light. If it's still on, turn that circuit breaker back on, and go on to check the next one. Chances are, someone somewhere along the line labelled most of your circuit breakers anyway. Look for
"upstairs back bathroom", or whatever, and check that one first. When the remaining three bulbs go dark, you know you've found the right circuit breaker. Leave it off when you work on the fixture.

If your box is five feet long, whoever wired it might have set up two different sets of wires, one feeding bulbs 1-3, and another feeding 4-6. Check to see if 4-6 converge on a common point different than 1-3, and check that common point.

If you turn the wall switch off, and you brush against it by mistake and don't notice, you can really fry yourself. If someone comes in and thru force of habit turns the switch on while you're working on the fixture, you can fry yourself. If the switch is somewhat faulty and there's some leakage of current, if the ground is faulty, you can fry yourself. Don't rely on the switch being off. TURN OFF THE CIRCUIT BREAKER.

When I say you can fry yourself, I mean that literally. You do NOT want to be the entree at dinner tonight. TURN OFF THE CIRCUIT BREAKER.

Possible, like putting a helicopter engine in a Porsche, in this case. It's a simple enough fixture, and if it tuirns off at the wall, that's all he has to do to stop the electric.

You could... if you're the type of guy that would clean a loaded weapon.

Flip the breaker. Or call an electrician. Or both.

here is a pic of the same fixture in the other bathroom;

We use those at the apartments. I've never had one with this same problem. When we take them down to paint them, we turn off the switch, take it loose, undo the wire nuts. It takes less than a minute to do this. As for the wiring inside, I haven't looked closely enough to say more.

No No No!

The number of circuits accessible at any given location has nothing whatsoever to do with "putting a helicopter engine in a Porsche". Nor does turning it "off at the wall" assure there is no power at the fixture!

There are two main reasons why you are wrong (actually there are more, but I'll stick with these two as I want lunch):

1) The power may go to the fixture first and not to the switch first.

2) As discussed it is entirely possible and not uncommon to have multiple circuits inside a fixture and/or in a junction box but.......this does not mean that more than one circuit would be feeding the fixture in question!

You misunderstand the electrical code as it pertains to the approval of fixtures and/or junction boxes to allow for the use of multiple circuits, even it these multiple circuits simply splice through to some other load / line / switch-leg etc.

It's simple enough to find out if there is more than one circuit accessible and it is crucial for safety to confirm this!

Only a fearless novice would fool around in a fixture and/or junction box without confirming the number of circuits present.

Only a fearless novice would fool around in a fixture and/or junction box without confirming the line side and load side of the circuit(s) in question.

This is me:

I have been a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Local 213 since 1979.

Over the years the IBEW Local 213 has dispatched me to a number of electrical contractors in the Lower Mainland. I have installed, repaired, maintained, upgraded and troubleshot a large variety of systems. These include switch gear, transformers, three phase / single phase distribution, motor control, computerized lighting, PLC's, elevators, lighting, power, low and high voltage, building control systems, telecommunications, computer networks, fibre optics and fire alarms. I have overseen work, maintained records, and estimated time / costs. I have been assigned to specific job locations and to mobile maintenance / service truck work. I am knowledgeable in safety protocols and the Canadian Electrical Code.

I comprehend blueprints and can perform job layouts for electrical circuitry and devices. I'm very familiar with many shop tools including larger machines such as welders, lathes and drill presses and a wide variety of smaller machines and hand tools.

Some of the larger electrical jobs I have been on include SkyTrain, a number of BC Ferries projects, BC Children's Hospital, St Paul's Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital and Cypress Mountain Ski Resort.

... by only putting on the safety.


Switch off the breaker.

To translate what Chumly is trying to say:


The safest way to know you have shut off all the power to the area you will work on is to use a tester (cheap and available at most hardware stores).

Do-it-yourselfers, builders and handymen are known to make errors and take shortcuts. Testing is your only safety net.

When a cheap, readily available tester is able to confirm you won't electricute yourself, is it worth it to take the chance on assumptions?

Yup a "ticker" is a good start.

FWIW it is possible to still get zapped even if the tester reads dead for a couple of reasons:
- excessive resistance in the neutral and/or
- floating neutral and/or
- the wiring is back-fed from an alternate source which may get continuity after you test

These conditions are fairly rare (I would hope) but not impossible by any means especially in older residential and commercial applications.

I worked with a fellow who fell off a ladder after getting only a modest zap from a circuit that was indeed off, he was in the hospital for a spell.

No offense intended to anyone here, but I have seen so much unsafe crap done by people that sort-of knew what they doing to give me the willies. Even with fully quaffed Journeyman Electricians I have seen some pretty lame / unsafe things for that matter - but that's another story!

Dys I recommend you get a fully qualified Journeyman Electrician to do the job if you have any doubts whatsoever. If you want to mess around with home improvements I suggest plumbing, the worst that can happen is lots of water; whereas with electrical you have the not-so-wonderful opportunity for death / injury / fire.

well, what I've decided to do is leave all the breakers on, turn on the light switch on the wall, climb up on a step latter and check each socket by inserting my maleness. thank all of you for your input.

Sounds like a plan, dys. Good luck.

Don't forget to wet it first.

Ferret saliva is the best for conductance. But it has to be very fresh, so direct application to the member is advisable.

if you let the ferret out of the closet..