Nate Nagel wrote:

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

angelasg wrote:

I bought a chandelier second hand. It did not come with the manual. I
looked up general instructions on the internet.

Every article I read said to connect the black wire from the junction
box to the black wire on the fixture and likewise for the white wires.
They said to hook up the bare copper ground wire to the ground wire of
the fixture. The problem is that both wires on the fixture are clear.

I looked up what the worse thing that could happen was if I installed
them backwards. The articles said it would either trip the breaker or
not work at all. So I figured I would just hook it up one way and see
if it worked and then switch them if it didn't. I have switched the
connections now about five times and no combination seems to work. I
did strip the wire some more just to make sure they were making
contact, but still no luck.

In addition, the mounting strap had a hole labeled ground on the
fixture, but there was no way to attach the bare copper wire. At first
I left it tucked into the junction box, then I tried running it through
the hole making sure it made contact with the strap.

There are four light bulbs all with the filament attached. In the
unlikely case it was the lightbulbs, I did switch one out. Still
nothing.

I don't have a voltage tester at the moment.

Is there any way to test the chandelier itself to make sure it works?

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Angela


Yes, Strip the two wires back about 1/2" and CAREFULLY stick them into
the slots on a working receptical. Make sure you're not standing in a
puddle or leaning against a radiator or other grounded object when you
do that.

If the bulbs don't light with that test, then take the fixture to a
lighting store and have it rewired.

As far as the ground lead goes, you can use a small mahine screw, nut
and a washer or two to securely attach the wire to the fixture.

HTH,

Jeff


Above and beyond that, the CENTER terminal of the bulbs should be "hot"
and the shell should be neutral. Probably not a big deal if you get it
wrong but might as well do it right. Take a meter and ohm out the wires
vs. the contacts and put a piece of black tape on the "hot" wire to mark
it inside the box. Assuming that everything is in good order and you
wire it backwards, it should still work, you will not blow a fuse and
the bulbs don't care about hot vs. neutral, they just want to see a
voltage across them.

Agreed, but I couldn't think of an easy and safe way to describe how to
check that, since he said he was sans meter.

For anyone who DOESN'T know just why the shell of bulb sockets should
connect to neutral, not hot, it's because while changing bulbs your
fingers might touch the shell of the bulb while it was still partially
screwed into the socket. If the hot side of the line hot was connected
to the socket shell and the power was still switched on you could get a
nasty shock if your other hand was steadying a grounded metal chandelier.

Jeff


Since you say that neither way works, are you certain that the reason
you were able to obtain this chandelier wasn't because it needs to be
rewired? There may be a spool of lamp cord and a soldering iron in your
future. Also I would definitely ground the chandelier (that's the bare
wire) in case there's a wiring fault, you don't want to get zapped while
cleaning it, for instance.

Also, how heavy is this chandelier? You may need a fan box in the
ceiling to support it properly.

good luck,

nate



--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.