Wiring a Chandelier for the Dummy Electrician

Swag-style chandelier

One of our staff here at the Antisocial Network was once a contributor to eHow.com, which is how we know the secrets behind what goes on within the cloistered halls of the web's most undependable source of advice and how-to articles. He... or is it she? explains that some of the more unscrupulous writers would grab a bunch of similar "titles" and then write all of them from the same set of references. Of course, if the contributor had no idea what he or she was talking about, it shouldn't be a surprise that the content is all worthless. Take, for instance, articles about electrical wiring written by history major Nichole Liandi. Take them, please! including "How to Install a Plug in a Chandelier"¹ (note: Nichole also cobbled together "How to Hard Wire a Chandelier", with almost exactly the same instructions).

We're at a loss on this one: to begin with, why would someone want to "install a plug in a chandelier"? There are several ways to interpret this:

• Install an outlet in a ceiling box
• Rewire a chandelier to use a plug instead of connecting to the house wiring
• Actually put an outlet in a chandelier somehow

None of the three processes is particularly difficult (though Liandi thinks it's "moderately" so). Nichole selects the second option; rewire the chandelier, and then botches it; big time. Her instructions are to disconnect the chandelier from the house wiring cut the supply lines off as short as possible, wrap them in electrical tape and shove them back into the ceiling box cut "the outlet end" from an extension cord and run the free end through a hole drilled in the "mount cover" connect the cut end of the extension cord to the wires of the chandelier

What does that leave us with? Well, that leaves us with a chandelier, still hanging from the ceiling, with a (female) outlet sticking out of the side of its canopy, which Liandi calls the "mount cover." This "solution" has a serious problem: the chandelier has no connection to the house wiring, yet it has a female plug – if you plug something into that outlet, there is no way it can supply electricity!

The idea of disconnecting an existing chandelier from switch-controlled house wiring is ludicrous to begin with. If the OQ wants to use a new chandelier as a swag lamp instead of wiring it to a ceiling box and wall switch, all that's necessary is to buy a male plug and connect it to the chandelier's wires. If the OQ actually wants an outlet in a ceiling fixture, that's doable as well (though not advisable). But Liandi's "solution"? Well, small wonder every time we see Nichole writing about wiring we dust off another Dumbass of the Day award plaque and engrave her name on it.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_8716217_install-plug-chandelier.html

copyright © 2016-2023 scmrak

DDIY - WIRING