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I am in the process of finishing our basement and I'm removing old lightbulb ceiling fixtures. One had power passthrough to a low voltage doorbell. For the other fixtures I've been capping the wires and covering the boxes. For this one, I would like to keep power running to the doorbell. Normally I'd just cap the white to white and black to black, but because its low (12v) voltage and the wires coming from the house are copper and the doorbell are not, I am concerned about overloading it. Would it be possible to connect the whites and blacks to maintain power to the doorbell

Thank youdoorbell light fixture pass wiring

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    What does the printing on the wire say? That could well be tinned copper. If not, use an Al/Cu rated wirenut or Wago-style connector.
    – Jon Custer
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 17:22
  • You can connect just the door bell to the wires. How are you covering the boxes? They must remain accessible without needing tools. Behind drywall is not allowed.
    – crip659
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 17:24
  • We aren't covering with drywall just painting so accessibility isn't an issue. The writing on the wire says "Waterburk Products Corp 105(degree)C TWE."
    – PanocideX
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 17:34

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The inputs of the transformer (inside the junction box) are 120V. The outputs outside the box are the low voltage part. The big lumpy thing there is a transformer which uses a sufficiently advanced technology that you may consider it magic to make 12V from 120V via magnetic coupling between a coil with a number of turns, and a different coil with 10 times that many turns.

They are almost certainly tinned (plated) copper wires. Connect to the former light power supply wires, since that was almost certainly what was done in the before picture you either didn't take or didn't share.

Always take before pictures, in this day of "free digital pictures you can delete when you don't need them anymore."

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  • Personally I find the effort to delete photos isn't worth it anymore - storage is so cheap.
    – Jon Custer
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 20:19
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    @JonCuster it's not necessarily the storage, but the effort in scrolling through hundreds of obsolete pics to find the one you want.
    – Huesmann
    Commented Jun 17, 2023 at 12:34

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