Porch Light Switch and Wiring
There's a number of posts regarding the circular porch lights here on this forum, but I can't seem to find one that pertains to my quandary. Early in the summer, I replaced the porch light with one that I ordered through VTS. Quick removal of the old light and and quick re-attachment of the wiring, and I'm good to go right? Not right. Turns out, the old lamp (and consequently, my new one) wasn't connected to the back of the switch on the wall to the left of the side window. Disappointed, I decided I'd lost that battle... until now. I've just removed the inside end cap to remove the nasty old insulation and seal some leaks. I've exposed the back of the new porch light, switch, and loose wiring. I'm not sure how the switch and the lamp were wired originally. There is (as you might know) only one wire coming out of the bottom of the porch lamp, but two errant wires (one red, one white). The red is connected (via wire splice) to the switch, but it appears the other terminal on the switch has been corroded and fallen off at some point. Where would I connect the white cable. Does the white cable connect at all? Is it a ground wire? The old porch light had a ground connector attached the back of the lamp housing. The new one does not.
I figure I'm going to need a new switch, but can anyone walk me through the wiring of the porch light? If I connect the red wire to a new switch, and then another cable from the second switch terminal up to the light, will that do the trick? Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this one. I'm happy to experiment, but not when it comes to electricity.
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