installing a basic light

[TheRic]

Ric/Larry,

I know that the white wire is indeed the neutral return to eventually the breaker box. However I was taught by an electrician who always advised me to consider both legs as the hot until the wire gets back to wherever the switch was. He told me that it would make it easier to figure out wiring and that one day it would save me from some trouble. He was right on both counts.

David,
I think you might have misunderstood him. This might be working for you, but it is not proper. If the wire is a neutral, it should NOT be flagged (that is what the black tape is doing) as being hot.

If you are using a "white" wire as a switching wire then YES it should be flagged. For example if the hot came into the light fixture first. Then you send the hot to the switch down the black wire, and the "white" flagged as hot back to the light to turn it on.

In this case the HOT is starting at the switch. So you are send a black that may or may not be hot, a white that is neutral, and I hope a ground. If the white is flagged as black then I would see that and think it's 220 coming to the light, 1 leg on the black, 1 leg on the flagged white.

[crokett]

Ric,

You are correct. In this case he should not tape the wires. And I think I did misunderstand.

[lrr]

[...]

i want to learn/understand wiring and electrical work so bad.

I'm not sure if they are still avaialble, but I have an old Time-Life book on Wiring. It is excellent -- lots of great color diagrams, and explains most of what a homeowner needs to know to fix wiring and add new switches, outlets, etc.

I would bet that something similar exists, from Sunset or another "How-To" company.