Let there be light! (Basic Wiring Explained)

My New York City backyard may be my workshop, but I store my tools inside under my stairs. Unfortunately it’s so dark that I’ve been using a flashlight to find things. I decided to install a light to illuminate the situation by salvaging an old floor lamp. This project is also a good explanation of lamp repair and basic wiring procedures, should anyone want to fix a broken lamp or do some other basic wiring.

You can find raw materials for many projects on the streets of New York City but some are more ubiquitous than others. Cool old furniture and architectural pieces are rarer than say wood and electrical parts. One of the most common things seems to be old lamps, which contain many valuable parts. But there’s always some valuable part hidden in an otherwise junky piece. For example, I’ve rescued motors out of washing machines, long cords off vacuum cleaners and hinges and other hardware off otherwise worthless furniture.

Start by unplugging the lamp and taking it apart into as many pieces as you can. There will usually be a bolt at the base of the lamp which connects the upright part to the base. This bolt will be hollow, allowing the power cord to snake up from the base to the socket. The socket will be connected to another (or maybe the same) hollow threaded rod, with a small set screw. The main body of the socket should easily slide out of this base, but may be held in place by the tension of the cord pulling from the base. The goal here is to remove the cover so you can see where the cord screws into the socket. Once you get to this point, unscrew the connections and pull the cord through the base. There will probably be a knot in the socket base you will need to untie.

With the parts disassembled, you can use it for another project or (as I am) use it for a lamp in a dark spot. To reattach the power cord, simply twist the wire around the threaded section of the screw in a clockwise motion and then screw in the screw. One of these strands will have a series of grooves on it to differentiate one strand from the other. This is to differentiate the positive (or “hot”) wire from the neutral. You’ll want to connect the grooved strand to the white or shiny screw and the other strand to the brass screw.

If your cord is frayed, broken or otherwise unusable, you’re going to need a new one. New cords are abundant in the trash, just cut the plug off almost any small appliance you can find. The gauge of the wire can matter as it needs to be thicker for appliances that draw more power, but almost any appliance you get the plug from will be thicker gauge than what a lamp requires. However, don’t try to rewire an appliance that draws a lot of power with a lamp cord because the thin cord will offer so much resistance that it can heat up and cause a fire hazard. Plus, the appliance may require grounding, which the lamp cord does not provide.

When installing a new cord, you’re going to need to need to remove the insulation. Most lamp and appliance wire consists of two strands of wire bound together with the plastic insulation. Start by making a small cut between the strands and pulling them apart. Then, using an insulation cutter (or a pocket knife if you’re careful), remove the insulation being careful not to cut into any of the wire strands inside. Then twist the wire strands so they don’t fray and wrap them around their respective terminal screws as described above. Be careful not to let the strands run all over the place as this increases the chance of a short circuit.

Thicker gauge wire, for bigger appliances, will probably be round and have three insulated wires inside the outer jacket. These wires are the positive (or “hot”), neutral and the ground. These are only used for larger appliance, not lamps, but are still connected using the same methods. The positive is usually black (connects to the brass terminal screw), the neutral is white (the silver terminal screw) and the ground is green (green terminal screw). The ground carries excess current if there is a short circuit, rather than having it run through the appliance and shock you. This is especially important with appliances with metal cases, as metal conducts electricity. This can happen even before you blow a fuse or trip a circuit breaker.

I reattached the power cord and the base and tested out the lamp. Then I tied it to a pipe above my workshop and ran the cord to another light. Because I don’t have any plugs in the area, I’m going to use a light socket plug adapter, which allows you to draw power from a light bulb socket.

This lamp also came with a switch which allows me to control the two lights independently. A pretty great addition to the workshop!