Chandelier Conversions for Dummies

swag lamp showing chain loop

One of the phenomena of the former eHow.com that never ceases to amaze our staffers is the ability of certain of the site's contributors to foul up even the simplest of do-it-yourself instructions. Much of the time it's because the writers didn't' really  use the references they claimed, but instead used some other freelancer's blog or a similarly non-authoritative source. That's what tripped up the author of today's nominee, a little ditty at HomeSteady.com entitled "How to Convert a Chandelier to a Swag Lamp."¹ We can't be certain, but it sure looks as though Jenny Harrington had never performed this particular task...

We're picking on Harrington because of a plethora of stupid lines in her post, but first things first: Jenny's right that you could convert a chandelier to a swag lamp by buying a conversion kit (not a "swag lamp kit") and rewiring it. There would be a couple of problems that Jenny did not, however, mention. We'll get to that later. But first, here's what Harrington said to do:

1. Strip 1 inch of the wire coating from each of the two wires that extend from your chandelier. Make sure to look for any markings or lines on the wires and that the markings are still visible after stripping. These marks will tell you which wire to attach to the cord.
2. Connect the two wires on the chandelier to those on the cord that came in the swag kit. In general, you will attach like color to like color. Use wire clips or electrical tape to hold them together.

Somehow between the two steps, the chandelier wires changed from having "markings or lines" to being color-coded. Oops. Well, in case you wondered, the cord in the kit will have markings – the one that's ribbed or marked with a line is neutral, the smooth or plain one is hot – and the wires in the light fixture will most likely be color-coded white (neutral) and black (hot). And "wire clips"? WTF?

Next, Jenny said to,

"Place the cord cover over the exposed wires, making sure no wire is visible. Feed the cord through the chain or covering that came with your kit."

First, we have no idea what this "cord cover" is and second, most swag kits are just for repairing swag lamps instead of conversion, and don't have a cover for the open side of the canopy. That's a serious problem because the light must be supported by the chain of the swag kit, and thus needs a hook or loop at the top. Oops.
In keeping with Demand Media demands, Harrington inserted a warning that one must "study the wiring diagram and connect the wires correctly." Ya think? Oh, and if you have a "wiring diagram," why would you follow her instructions, huh?

Jenny finished by saying to screw the hook into a "stud on the ceiling" (we think she meant ceiling joist) and plugging in the light. At least she didn't say to turn off the power "to the room" first. On the other hand, she clearly knew nothing about wiring, nothing about chandeliers, and precious little about frame construction. Dumbass of the Day material? You bet!

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_5016481_convert-chandelier-swag-lamp.html

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