How to Replace a Light Fixture

[efwitw]

I bought a house that was built in 1959. There is a junction box in the formal dining room, but there is no light fixture connnnected to it. There is just a pretty cover over the junction box. When I took the cover off the junction box I could see 4 holes with wires coming out of them. Three of the holes have a red, white, and black wire coming out of them and one hole just has a black and red wire coming through it. The hole that has just two wires which are red and black goes to the wall switch in the room. All I want to do is connect a light fixture that has two wires coming from it. Does anyone out there have electrical knowledge to help me figure out this mess. I am electrical savy.
Thank You

[markmark]

What is the red wire that is coming from the switch doing? Does it have a wire nut on it by itself in the box? Also, the 3 holes with the red, black, and white wires in them, are the reds spliced together, and the blacks spliced together, and the whites spliced together? If the red wire that is coming from the switch is nutted off by itself, that would be your switch leg. That is the wire coming from the switch that gives power to the light fixture. If the black wire, that is going to the switch, is spliced to the other black wires in the J-box, then that would be the wire supplying the power to the light switch. If this is the case, then turn off the the power to the red and black circuits in the J-box. Splice the white wire on the new light fixture to the other white wires in the J-box. Then splice the red switch leg to the black wire on the new light fixture.

[HVACdocAZ]

White is always your neutral or common wire
Black and red are your hot legs 120 volt
most homes are pre-wired for cieling fans....black wire i used for the fan switch
red for the light

If you are just using a light...connect the balck adn the white to you new fixture and tie the ground wire directly to the Junction box. Make sure you turn the breaker off first.

good luck

[markmark]

You are assuming that the black and red wires are switch legs and not a line feed and a switch leg. It should be determined first, what the function is of the black and red wire, that is going to the J-box by itself.