Examining a table lamp I found the live conductor fractured &
insulation erupting!

Replacing a lampholder, flex & threaded tube insulator is easy.
Brass switched BC lamp holder w/red safety pin (will not turn on if a
bulb is not present).

Adding a cord grip is not easy.
This lamp (and many more) are custom glazed pottery, Troika style,
just a hole in the side.


I notice the brass lamp holder has an "strain relief bar" where you
loop back the insulated cores - like some ceiling rose fittings that
do not use a slotted-disc around the cable sheath.

Does that meet the requirement of a cord grip, so I do not need one in
the base?


Otherwise I will have to diamond drill the side and epoxy in one of
those plastic nylon cord grips with a plastic side grub-screw.
http://www.ryness.co.uk/products/689...grip-9001.aspx

The only other alternative is a side-outlet cord-grip lampholder boss,
they are £9.
Ebay UK item number 270609429438.

On Aug 11, 10:15*pm, "js.b1" wrote:
Examining a table lamp I found the live conductor fractured &
insulation erupting!

Replacing a lampholder, flex & threaded tube insulator is easy.
Brass switched BC lamp holder w/red safety pin (will not turn on if a
bulb is not present).

Adding a cord grip is not easy.
This lamp (and many more) are custom glazed pottery, Troika style,
just a hole in the side.

I notice the brass lamp holder has an "strain relief bar" where you
loop back the insulated cores - like some ceiling rose fittings that
do not use a slotted-disc around the cable sheath.

Does that meet the requirement of a cord grip, so I do not need one in
the base?

Otherwise I will have to diamond drill the side and epoxy in one of
those plastic nylon cord grips with a plastic side grub-screw.http://www.ryness.co.uk/products/689...grip-9001.aspx

The only other alternative is a side-outlet cord-grip lampholder boss,
they are £9.
Ebay UK item number 270609429438.


As Owain says, normal practice then was to knot the flex. This is only
a partially effective cord grip, but in this case its fine as the
lampholder has its own gripping arrangement.

Sounds like what you'd like isnt so much a cordgrip, but strain
relief. I'm not sure how you'd add that to a Troika era hole in
pottery, you could perhaps go from pvc to something tougher though. Or
just accept that these things occasionally happen on old lamps


NT

Thought not :-)

P clip sounds good, however I found another type of strain relief:
Essentially a piece of nylon flat bar with 2 or 3 holes in it through
which the cable is looped. Does not require much of a hole in the base
for access.

I do not like the aesthetics of the "side-exit" solutions, but I will
do a test diamond drill of a similar broken pottery item and if not
successful will have to go that route. It does at least give a proven
off the shelf solution.

On Aug 12, 1:16*pm, Owain wrote:
I think the side flex exit lampholders make it more likely that if the
flex is pulled the lamp will overturn and get broken, with an exit
near the base the lamp is more likely to slide along the surface and
survive.

It is an odd idea, I am sure they used to do it on some "standard
lamps" which are the worst for stability.

Currently core diamond cutting the base, then I can pull out a loop of
cable and fit a P-clip or nylon clamp. A bit of effort, but at least
it is done properly.

Got to do a centre light next... that is really asking for a "del boy"
moment because it is piggin 1960s hideous :-)

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "js.b1" saying
something like:

Does that meet the requirement of a cord grip, so I do not need one in
the base?

What about a clamp-on grip with plenty of slack inside? Many lamps of
that type used to use that, but whether it's still ok, I don't know.

On Aug 12, 9:53*pm, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:
What about a clamp-on grip with plenty of slack inside? Many lamps
of that type used to use that, but whether it's still ok, I don't know.

That is what I plan on, combined with the new lampholder which has
"insulated-core strain relief", together with a flash new 15p plastic
bush for the brass tube bit :-)

Before it had no bottom cord grip & no lampholder cord grip; with the
live insulation erupting it reminds me to do the quarterly rcbo
test :-) Chopped the hedge trimmer cable today, that is ok, it is the
13th tomorrow... wish the milkman would stop wearing the Scream
mask... very offputting.

On Aug 12, 12:44*am, "js.b1" wrote:
Thought not :-)

P clip sounds good, however I found another type of strain relief:
Essentially a piece of nylon flat bar with 2 or 3 holes in it through
which the cable is looped. Does not require much of a hole in the base
for access.

I do not like the aesthetics of the "side-exit" solutions, but I will
do a test diamond drill of a similar broken pottery item and if not
successful will have to go that route. It does at least give a proven
off the shelf solution.


If you mean to fix the P clip in place, as far as I can see it would
do nothing at all for strain relief. And it looks like thats the issue
here, not cordgripping per se.

Personally I wouldnt drill troika for the sake of what is a very minor
point.


NT

On Aug 12, 11:05*pm, Tabby wrote:
If you mean to fix the P clip in place, as far as I can see it would
do nothing at all for strain relief. And it looks like thats the issue
here, not cordgripping per se.

Undersized P-clip acting as a loose strain relief clamp. I will most
likely use the simple 2-hole plate (sort of a modern take on the
knotted cable).

Personally I wouldnt drill troika for the sake of what is a very minor
point.

It is troika style by a cornish artist (relative), he had tried to
drill the base himself but just marked out where it was thinnest (it
varies up to half inch, the items range from about 10lb to over 140lb
built-up floor standing sculptures). They should have been cut before
firing, but it got overlooked as kiln time is always tight. Meant a
lot of diamond cutting after firing which is a terribly inefficient
solution, a tile just has a hard skin, this is hard right the way
through.

They are all heavy enough that the terminals took the hit. Should be a
push-in 2 piece barb.

Contrast with a 1960s george henry lees lamp which has the smallest
flex I have ever seen, white figure-8 "bell white", and physically
unstable even before a shade is added. Pull on that flex and it goes
airborne. That is condemned on grounds of being the most stupid lamp
ever made. Then again, a lot of the glass vases (er, junk) being sold
by M&S etc are poorly weighted and not remotely flat on the base. At
least cut glass stuff stays put and has some weight to it.

On Aug 11, 10:15*pm, "js.b1" wrote:
Examining a table lamp I found the live conductor fractured &
insulation erupting!

Replacing a lampholder, flex & threaded tube insulator is easy.
Brass switched BC lamp holder w/red safety pin (will not turn on if a
bulb is not present).

Adding a cord grip is not easy.
This lamp (and many more) are custom glazed pottery, Troika style,
just a hole in the side.

I notice the brass lamp holder has an "strain relief bar" where you
loop back the insulated cores - like some ceiling rose fittings that
do not use a slotted-disc around the cable sheath.

Does that meet the requirement of a cord grip, so I do not need one in
the base?

Otherwise I will have to diamond drill the side and epoxy in one of
those plastic nylon cord grips with a plastic side grub-screw.http://www.ryness.co.uk/products/689...grip-9001.aspx

The only other alternative is a side-outlet cord-grip lampholder boss,
they are £9.
Ebay UK item number 270609429438.

I'm not convinced I understand what you're describing.

I'm not sure what you're referring to as "threaded tube insulator" --
is that the nipple on to which the BC lampholder screws?

You refer to a "just a hole in the side" -- is that an existing flex
entry point in the base of the lamp but one that's simply too small to
admit any obvious mechanical cord grip, or what?

If the only problem is that there's no mechanical gripping of the flex
where it enters the base of the lamp, then use a bit of creativity.
An excellent use for silicon mastic!