Often, we find ourselves in a fix at our home, and we are torn between fixing the problem ourselves or calling a professional for the job. Sometimes, you may have things lying around that haven’t been working since ages, but you can’t seem to get around to fix them, no matter how many times your wife reminds you in a week.
Nearly all of us have table lamps or floor lamps in our home that don’t work, but neither do we get it fixed, nor do we throw it out. If you open up the covering or panel that conceals the wiring of the lamp, you will find that there is a simple case of detached or broken wire. In such a case, you just need to grab a plier, strip some of the wiring and reattach it to the screw that holds the wire in place.
However, things may not always be simple. Sometimes, you may notice that the wire has burnt, or there isn’t enough wire to strip and reattach it. Before you go ahead and call your electrician Vancouver, let us tell you how you can rewire lamp safely and properly.
Steps to Rewire Lamp Quickly
First of all, there are some tools that you will need for the job. Make sure you have all of them present, and they are in perfect working condition. These tools include:
- Screwdriver
- Replacement wire
- Plug
- Electrical tape
- Wire cutter or stripper
Now that you have all the things in order, let’s see how you can put them to use and rewire lamp, so that it becomes useful once again.
Disconnecting the Power
Before you do anything at all, please ensure that the wire to your floor or table lamps isn’t plugged into a socket, as this can be a recipe for disaster. If you expose the wiring inside your lamp while the plug is connected to an electrical socket and turned on, you can experience a severe electric shock. Also, there may be a loose wire inside your lamp that is touching its metal body and if this happens, even touching the lamp will cause serious injury.
Removing the Bulb and Socket
The next step involves removing the bulb from your lamp, while also removing the shade. Once this is done, press on the socket shell to remove the shell and insulator. If there is something wrong with the socket itself, then you can use a screwdriver to quickly remove it. This also means that you would need to get a new socket before you get to work.
If you aren’t disconnecting the socket, pull it away from its place to expose the connected wire. Using the screwdriver, remove the screws that connect the socket to the wire. This will allow you to remove the cord.
Inserting the New Wire
Instead of removing the old cord beforehand, you can use it as a tow wire to insert the new one. Make sure to strip off its insulation from both ends, at least 12 inches from the tip. Once this is done, you can twist the ends of the new one with those of the old one, and pull at the old wire from the end which you have detached from the socket. This will cause the new wire to slide in place of the old one, and you can untwist the ends that you tied together.
Connecting the Wires
In the new wire, you will have two small wires encased inside the insulation. Once you strip them to expose the conducting wires, bend the copper wires into a loop separately. You can place these loops under each terminal screw, making sure that the copper wires don’t touch each other. Tighten the screws to secure the wire in place, and make sure to cut off any excess exposed wire.
Now, you can place the socket shell over the insulated part of the wire, and put the socket back into place.
Attaching a Plug
The next step involves attaching a new plug to the other end of the wire. Open up the plastic casing of the plug with a screwdriver. Just like you did with the other side of the wire, you will have strip off the insulation, separate the two wires and strip them to reveal the copper conductors. Twist each one to create two loops, and place them underneath each terminal screw, tightening them. Also, make sure that the two copper wires don’t touch each other. Once you have attached the wire to the plug, place its cover back in place and tighten the screw.
Now, all you need to do is put back the shade to your lamp, insert a bulb and plug it into the socket, turning the switch on. This should cause the lamp to light up, and that is all you need to do to rewire the lamp that has been sitting idle for ages. As you can see, rewiring floor and table lamps only involves a few simple steps, but caution is always advised. If you turn on the lamp and it doesn’t light up, make sure to check the connections from both ends of the wire. If you can’t figure it out, make sure to get an electrician Vancouver involved, rather than trying out anything unusual.
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