I am trying to rewire a 5 arm brass chandelier. The original wiring is
16 ga stranded wire which was hard wired to the fixtures (several of
which are defective which is why I am rewiring).


One end of the arm has a straight run from the entry hole but then
there's a sharp bend which I can't negotiate by pushing the wire. If I
start from the other end (which has an immediate 90 degree turn through
a narrow hole) I am able to push one stranded conductor completely
through the arm, but I am unable to get the second conductor to get
past the 90 degree turn. I've tried doing this using the original
wiring (which I plan to replace).


I've tried 2 conductor lamp wire but that's too wide. I've tried using
conduit lube but that doesn't seem to help. I don't have any 18 ga
stranded wire on hand, but the diameter of stranded wire including its
jacket appears not to vary with gauge.


Is there some trick I am missing here?


thanks

wrote:
I am trying to rewire a 5 arm brass chandelier. The original wiring is
16 ga stranded wire which was hard wired to the fixtures (several of
which are defective which is why I am rewiring).


One end of the arm has a straight run from the entry hole but then
there's a sharp bend which I can't negotiate by pushing the wire. If I
start from the other end (which has an immediate 90 degree turn through
a narrow hole) I am able to push one stranded conductor completely
through the arm, but I am unable to get the second conductor to get
past the 90 degree turn. I've tried doing this using the original
wiring (which I plan to replace).


I've tried 2 conductor lamp wire but that's too wide. I've tried using
conduit lube but that doesn't seem to help. I don't have any 18 ga
stranded wire on hand, but the diameter of stranded wire including its
jacket appears not to vary with gauge.


Is there some trick I am missing here?


thanks

Sounds like it's a pretty tight fit.

A couple suggestions:

Can you take the arms apart somehow? Sometimes it's more than one
piece threaded together.

If you can get one one wire or string or anything through the arm, then
use that to pull your two wires through. The key to that working will
be to figure out a way to attach your two wires to your pulling wire in
a way that doesn't increase the diameter of the connection too much.
To do this, you may want to strip the insulation off the ends of your
two wires before you connect to the pulling wire. That way you are just
dealing with the diameter of the wire itself, rather than the diameter
including the insulation where you make the connection for pulling.

Ken

wrote in message
oups.com...
I am trying to rewire a 5 arm brass chandelier. The original wiring is
16 ga stranded wire which was hard wired to the fixtures (several of
which are defective which is why I am rewiring).


One end of the arm has a straight run from the entry hole but then
there's a sharp bend which I can't negotiate by pushing the wire. If I
start from the other end (which has an immediate 90 degree turn through
a narrow hole) I am able to push one stranded conductor completely
through the arm, but I am unable to get the second conductor to get
past the 90 degree turn. I've tried doing this using the original
wiring (which I plan to replace).


I've tried 2 conductor lamp wire but that's too wide. I've tried using
conduit lube but that doesn't seem to help. I don't have any 18 ga
stranded wire on hand, but the diameter of stranded wire including its
jacket appears not to vary with gauge.


Is there some trick I am missing here?


thanks

I did this a few years ago using some braided steel wire, approx 1/8"
diameter I had laying around. It was stiff enough to be pushed through the
brass arms of the chandelier I was rewiring but flexible enough to make the
tight turns in the arms.

I put a small ball of solder at the forward end just so the wire didn't
catch as it traveled. I sprayed teflon based lube into the arms every turn
or 2 to keep things going.

Worked like a charm.

Jon

Pelcovits,

Some fishing line, a small weight, and gravity should help you to put
strings through all of the arms. I'm assuming the chandelier is removed from
the ceiling. Use the strings to pull the wires through.

Good luck,
Dave M.

wrote:

I am trying to rewire a 5 arm brass chandelier. The original wiring is
16 ga stranded wire which was hard wired to the fixtures (several of
which are defective which is why I am rewiring).

One end of the arm has a straight run from the entry hole but then
there's a sharp bend which I can't negotiate by pushing the wire. ...
....
Is there some trick I am missing here?

Use the existing wire to pull a string or a thin flexible wire then use
that to pull the real thing...don't need to push.

In article .com,
wrote:

Is there some trick I am missing here?

Yes.

Tie a knot in some butchers' twine and blow it in with compressed air.

Or... tie a knot in some butchers' twine and suck it through with a
powerful vacuum.

Buy a micro-mouse and some cheese?

wrote:

I am trying to rewire a 5 arm brass chandelier. The original wiring is
16 ga stranded wire which was hard wired to the fixtures (several of
which are defective which is why I am rewiring).

I've tried 2 conductor lamp wire but that's too wide. I've tried using
conduit lube but that doesn't seem to help. I don't have any 18 ga
stranded wire on hand, but the diameter of stranded wire including its
jacket appears not to vary with gauge.

I use very high heat (200 degree C IIRC) 16ga wire which not only has
a very thin insulation but it also seems slippery. Apart from being
easier to pass through the arms it will also withstand almost any heat
build up. I don't know where you'd buy this normally--a lamp rewiring
place I suppose since it's made specifically for that purpose. I
bought a quantity ten years ago from Grand Brass in NYC. They have a
website.

On 31 Oct 2005 07:44:51 -0800, wrote:



I've tried 2 conductor lamp wire but that's too wide. I've tried using
conduit lube

Conduit lube! I guess I have to get out more.

but that doesn't seem to help. I don't have any 18 ga
stranded wire on hand, but the diameter of stranded wire including its
jacket appears not to vary with gauge.

Lately I've become the old codger who goes around taking down the
illegal advertising on plastic rectangles, either stuck in the ground
with a big stick or wire legs, or tied to telephone and light poles.

Actually, it's pretty satisfying, my n'hood looks a lot better, and as
an after-effect, I've found lots of uses for the things I take away.

From the poles, I get a lot of long plastic ties, the ones with the
rectangular hole at one end and the little teeth along the rest of it.

They have lots of uses and this would be one of them.

The thoughtful polluters use various sizes of plastic ties, and one
will fit your chandelier. Poke or drill a hole at each end.



I wanted to run a wire, for the new sunvisors with illuiminated
mirrors, through the frame at the top of my windshield, and the big
thick one worked great.

The crummy contractor who did my next-door neighbor's stoop and steps
didn't bring any reinforcing, so he used a bunch of my wire legs.

The plastic sheets replace a lot of uses I used to do with newspaper
or blankets or other things. Protection for the grass when I spray
paint; protection for my car's upholstery when I carry things; better
than newspaper for something to kneel on when I work under the dash
of my car and kneel on the bumpy rocky blacktop. Good for sitting on
dirt without getting wet or dirty. I'm going to line two sides of my
inside basement window well with plain white ones so I'll have a
little more natural light in my basement.


I'm not the only one removing the advertising. There seem to be about
two others, because when I don't get to certain locations right away,
someone else does.

This blight took about 4 years to grow from almost nothing to verrrry
bad. I see it starting in Indianapolis too. If it comes to your
town, stop it quickly, because everyone will be doing it if you don't.

(I make an exception for signs immediately in front of the property
or business they are advertising, for For Sale by Owner signs if
they are on the closest main street, for yard sales that will occur
within the next two weeks (in practice, only one week are found), for
concerts or special events that will occur soon, unless there are many
too many signs, and for the apartment building and racket club near
me. I want them to be fully rented and to succeed. I'm not obliged
to treat every law breaker equally. . There may be a couple other
exceptions I can't think of now.

(So far, I haven't been making an exception for churches. Does anyone
think I should? It seems to me churches should be obeying the law
even more certainly than others, and almost all churches do.)




Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

replying to Robatoy, JyG wrote:
Vacuum worked- brilliant thank you!!!!!!

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replying to Robatoy, SMC wrote:
Great idea - worked like a charm


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On 7/19/2017 10:14 AM, SMC wrote:
replying to Robatoy, SMC wrote:
Great idea - worked like a charm



We often joke about the homoaners but this time, it is true. Robatoy
passed away about two years ago. Hee was a regular on a couple of
groups but 12 years after the original post his legacy lives on.

replying to Robatoy, chandelier_newby wrote:
Just tried this 14 years after it was posted and after an hour of frustration
at how to get something (anything!) through the bends in a chandelier arm.
Thanks to Robatoy in memorium.

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replying to chandelier_newby, goosenecked wrote:
I /just/ tried the vacuum trick and found success, too! To Robatoy, a wise one.

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