Hi all. I'm nearly finished my basement HT room (15x24). I've had an open ceiling light receptacle near the wet bar at the rear of the room for awhile now until I could find the right track light. Well, I finally found the light I wanted and went to install it. When I threw the breaker back on, the new light turned on fine. Now (and here's where the rookie part comes in) there were only two light switches in my unfinished basement and I didn't bother to test which switch powered the vacant receptacle. But being that the swiches are side by side, I didn't really care if the track light came on with the sconces or the central room light. Well, I turned off both switches and low and behold, all the lights turned off except the track light! Turns out neither switch controls the track light (nor do any other switches or receptacles in the basement.) I didn't wire the room but I've since drywalled so I don't think there's any way to find the wire and attach a switch to it. Near as I can tell, the only reason this light receptacle wouldn't be attached to exposed switches is maybe because it was direct wired for a ceiling fan?

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to trouble shoot? Or, is there a decorative-type light with a pull switch right on the light that can be purchased (I would rather not install a ceiling fan in this small room).

Thanks for any help. This is one preventative lesson I've had to learn the hard way!:(

Cheers.

Are you sure that one of the light switches that may power the track lighting wasnt just spliced in the wall box?

IE: You have two wires to feed lights.

Usually a black as your incoming hot and a white as the nutural. Then you have a positive wire that goes up to the light as power. Could it be that the other wire is actually in the switch box but the attached it to the constant hot instead of the switch? I hope that makes sense.

I would check your switches and see if there is a lot more wires that are spliced together than the other side, you may just have to detach it from the constant hot and splice it into the switched side.

Hard to explain without pictures.

Easy way would be to turn off the breaker, detach all the electrical wires in those switch boxes all together and see if your track lighting still comes on.

Make sure to cap them all off with wire nuts so you dont trip the breaker or get SHOCKED!

Good luck!

Thanks very much for the suggestion (your explanation was excellent). I just finished doing what you suggested and separated all the black wires from both switch boxes and from the laundry room switch box on the opposite side of the wall. And that bloody light STILL stayed on.

Start turning off breakers one at a time to see what else shares the circuit with the light. It will probably be receptacles some place.

You could use home automation direct wire in and wall switch controller to control it.

Here is one from Smarthome http://www.smarthome.com/2475D/In-LineLinc-Dimmer-INSTEON-Remote-Control-In-Line-Dimmer/p.aspx

There is ton of info on there site on how to set it up if you can't rewire easily.

Start turning off breakers one at a time to see what else shares the circuit with the light. It will probably be receptacles some place.

When I turn off the breaker marked "Basement lights" then the light (along with all other lights in the basement) go out. It's when I turn the breaker on, no switch seems to be able to turn it off. So I know for sure that it's connected to the same breaker as the rest of the lights. Are you thinking that the light may be tied directly to an outlet (plug-in) receptacle? If so, I guess I could pull apart the plug receptacles in the room and see if that interrupts power to the light... Maybe I'll start with a clock radio and see if the "basement lights" breaker is attached to any plugs and go from there.

OK same circuit as the other lights in the basement so not an outlet circuit.

When you had the wires open on this light in question did it have double wires in the box. They might have wired this light in-line with the other lights in basement and it is upstream of the switches. If it has double wires disconnect one black/white pair at a time and if this light stays on and the others go out we know where in the circuit this thing is likely wired.

If it is upstream of the wall switches you need to insert a box based switch of some kind. A picture of the box would help so we could see what room you have to work with.

One solution would be to convert the ceiling box to a remote controlled outlet then convert your track light to a plug in. Not a very clean looking installation but it would get the job done.

Also check for a GFI outlet. It is code in a basement in most parts(states anyways).
Hit the test button if there is one.
This just confirms if its a wall box splice but ultimately does not solve your issue.

You could use home automation direct wire in and wall switch controller to control it.

Here is one from Smarthome http://www.smarthome.com/2475D/In-LineLinc-Dimmer-INSTEON-Remote-Control-In-Line-Dimmer/p.aspx

There is ton of info on there site on how to set it up if you can't rewire easily.
That looks like a nifty piece of equipment. Is it an electronic or manual (audible click) switch?

OK same circuit as the other lights in the basement so not an outlet circuit.

When you had the wires open on this light in question did it have double wires in the box. They might have wired this light in-line with the other lights in basement and it is upstream of the switches. If it has double wires disconnect one black/white pair at a time and if this light stays on and the others go out we know where in the circuit this thing is likely wired.

If it is upstream of the wall switches you need to insert a box based switch of some kind. A picture of the box would help so we could see what room you have to work with.

One solution would be to convert the ceiling box to a remote controlled outlet then convert your track light to a plug in. Not a very clean looking installation but it would get the job done.

Yes, it has double wires, but that's because the circuit extends to my basement door porch light. OK, I'll try and separate the pairs. I just took off the blacks last time. Nice idea to convert to an outlet and plug. Any idea where I can get a remote controlled outlet at a decent price?

The other thing I may be able to do is cap off the exisitng wires in the box and fish a new set of wires back through the box along the ceiling and over to the laundry room, approx 6 ft (where the walls are not drywalled) and tie into the laundry room switch box and punch a new switch box into the HT room (laundry room and HT room share the same wall).

As long as I keep the capped off wires visible in the box, can this be done without violating code? I'm in Alberta, Canada.

Worst case, I'll have to entice one of my two electrician brother-in-laws to visit and put them to work....

Thanks very much for the assistance thus far. I always learn something on the board!

As long as the capped off wires remain accessible in the box and as long as the total wires and connectors doesn't exceed the fill calculation for the box you should be OK.

IMHO fishing a new wire and putting in a switch would be the best solution.

Based on your new description it sounds like the power cable goes to feed the two wall switch circuits then makes it way up to this light and then on to the porch door light.

What that means is you could put a switch near the other switches but then the porch light would go on and off with this track light. Again if you can fish a new wire you will be much happier.

As long as the capped off wires remain accessible in the box and as long as the total wires and connectors doesn't exceed the fill calculation for the box you should be OK.

IMHO fishing a new wire and putting in a switch would be the best solution.

Based on your new description it sounds like the power cable goes to feed the two wall switch circuits then makes it way up to this light and then on to the porch door light.

What that means is you could put a switch near the other switches but then the porch light would go on and off with this track light. Again if you can fish a new wire you will be much happier.

Thanks for your help, BIG. After getting your feedback I started fishing new wire back through the box and then I thought "why not keep the power from the existing line instead of capping it off and tapping from another source" I then decided to add additional wire this way: At the light I tied the existing 2 blacks to the white of the new line I was running, then the black on the new line got connected to the black on the track light, and the white on the track light light tied onto the existing whites. I then fished the new wire back through the ceiling, installed a new switch box via the exposed studs in the laundry room and presto, it worked! (hell, the porch light even still worked!!!) My electrician brother-in-law who was helping me out over the phone toward the end even confirmed that this complies with code in Alberta. Mind you, in Alberta we can do our own electrical, our own plumbing, and even perform surgery on our own pets and livestock if we feel like it ;) Complying with code is just a bonus (not that I'm the risk-taking type when it comes to electricity... or water pressure....or fixing my dog's limp.)

Thanks again for everyone's help and coaching. I went from a "this isn't going to be pretty....." to finding a solution in a couple of hours. There's even time left in the day to drink a beer or two and watch a flick.