How to hook up light with Only two wires available and no ground?

Answer 1

Any house built before 1950 probably only has 2 wires. Black and white. You do not need a ground, that is only to ground the fixture. Hook black to black and white to white and don't worry about it.

Answer 2

FIRST, SHUT OFF ALL POWER TO THE CIRCUIT YOU WILL BE WORKING ON. THEN TEST IT TO MAKE SURE IT IS OFF. IF YOU CANNOT FIND THE PROPER CIRCUIT BREAKER, DO NOT PERFORM THIS WORK ON AN ENERGIZED CIRCUIT.

SHUT OFF THE SERVICE MAIN BREAKER AND THEN TEST THE POWER TO MAKE SURE IT IS OFF, OR CALL AN ELECTRICIAN, WHO CAN FIND THE PROPER BREAKER. Normally a fixture with multiple sockets is pre-wired so you only have to connect a ground, neutral, and hot wire. I'm guessing yours is not done for you. In this case, simply connect the grounds from all sockets together by twisting them and installing a wire nut sized for the wires. Before you put the wire nut on, add an extra piece of wire the same color as the others (green or bare). This will give you slack when installing the fixture to the wall. Then connect all white (neutral) wires together in the same manner, adding another piece of white for slack, and do the same with the black (hot) wires, adding another piece of your hot color for slack. Now just connect the ground, neutral, and hot wires from your fixture box to the extra ground, neutral, and hot wires that you added to the connections. If you don't know which wire in the box is which, read the following: Ground will be GREEN or BARE WIRE Neutral will be WHITE or GRAY Hot will be the other color (typically black or red) If there is more than a ground, neutral, and 1 hot color in your box, I cannot be sure what their purposes are without being there, so your best bet is to have an electrician look at it. <><><> By asking this question you are probably not quite ready to take on this particular task. The correct answer to your question will depend on the exact locations of the light fixture and its switches, its voltage and its power rating. Really, don't do this one yourself. Electricity is far too dangerous to handle if you have not been trained how to do this work. If you use the wrong size and type of cable for the job and/or put just one wire in the wrong place, you risk being killed by electrocution or you could even start a house fire. How to do this job depends entirely on the Wiring Codes or Regulations for the locality (Town/County/State) and on the exact location of the electrical equipment you wish to be installed. If situated anywhere that is subject to water splashes, water spray, dampness or humidity - such as in any room supplied with running water pipes, like a kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, shower room, etc., or in a workshop, or garage (or anywhere outside a building in the open air, such as along an outside wall - or a pool-side area) in many places nowadays it is actually illegal to attempt to do this kind of work unless you are already a licensed electrician. If you get any other answer here, you might attempt to do something you shouldn't be doing, and that may cost someone a shock, a home fire, or even their life. <><><> As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed. Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized. IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

Answer 3

First you need to determine what the wire "pairs" are used for.
Typically a light circuit uses one of the pairs for power source and the other for the switch leg.
Determine which pair is the switch leg (a multi-meter is useful for that) and which is the power. Connect the white of the switch leg to the black of the power leg, then connect the remaining black and white to the black and white of the light fixture.
Make certain that you connect the white of the switch leg to the black of the power line so that you don't end up with the OUTSIDE of your light sockets connected to the "hot" side of the circuit.
If you are at all confused or suspect that you might not be able to do this properly, contact a qualified electrician to perform these repairs. Saving a few $ is not worth putting yourself or others in danger.