ot Hardwiring a plug in ot

[aero3113]

Hey Guys,

I bought my wife a chandelier that plugs into the wall. Can I cut the plug and hard wire it to the wires from a light in the ceiling? I searched the internet and some say yes and some no. I do not see a problem,how about you guys?

[41/53dodges]

i cant see it hurting anything, but it might not look the greatest to have the cord hanging there. can you send a pic of the fixture?

[aero3113]

I will use a cover plate that will be mounted to the ceiling and secure the chandelier to it with a chain with the wire running through the chain. It is a very lite chandelier.

[49roadster]

There is a piece of hardware that goes under the cover plate and screws to the box in the ceiling. That holds the weight of the fixture. Any hardware store will have it. Other than that it should be no problem

[aero3113]

Yes 49roadster, that is what I have. I have seen hanging lights with a braided wire running from the light to the ceiling up the chain along the cord. Is that a ground? will I need to do that also?

[Plymouthy Adams]

not a problem..do be sure that you properly connect the hot wire of the lamp to the hot wire of the house wiring..other than that and the proper anchor to secure and hold the lamp..you should be good to go..when remodeling the house a bit i affixed a rather heavy lamp in the overhead above the step..this was a cathedral style roof..I mounted the outlet box on one side of the V right at the top and connected the wire that extends out of the uspension chain to a heavy stainless steel hook screwed deep into the ridge beam...

[knighthawk]

.'' Is that a ground?'' It sounds like you are not very familiar with this electrical stuff, I don't think you should be doing this. I also have done alot of wiring on my own, and I would suggest you have someone else do it, or, at least look at it and show you what to do .

[Plymouthy Adams]

.'' Is that a ground?'' It sounds like you are not very familiar with this electrical stuff, I don't think you should be doing this. I also have done alot of wiring on my own, and I would suggest you have someone else do it, or, at least look at it and show you what to do .

which post are you referring to Larry?

Most of the hanging fixtures will have the decorative coated zip cord along with a exposed braided ground wire interlaced in the suspension chain..proper connection of the ground, common and hot to associated feed and you will be fine..

Edited February 12, 2010 by Tim Adams

[knighthawk]

well , yes, but,........ the ground question came post # 6........... I under stand the braided wire bit, dircect ground to the green ground, but.....

[aero3113]

Knighthawk,I dont know why you think I do not understand what to do? It is pretty straight forward. The question I had was if it was ok to cut the cord and hardwire it and what the braided line was? Tim does your light have that braided cord up the chain?

Edited February 12, 2010 by aero3113

[jd52cranbrook]

Hard wiring a portable device, or a non protective wire is against code and extremely unsafe.

I'm surprised with all the post I see on here being so anal about car protection it is not mentioned here. All you need is for someone to pull that wire out of the the light fixture or fan and you have live wires floating around. There's a reason for the plugs on the end of cords.

Sorry, my contractor's logic had to come out.

Edited February 12, 2010 by jd52cranbrook

[jd52cranbrook]

You know I just re-read this beginning post. I didn't realize you were wiring it into a light box on the ceiling. I thought you were running the wire down to a outlet and hard wiring it there. My bad.

[knighthawk]

I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't do it ....just that if your not comfortable or unsure .....electricity is not the place experiment .

[Plymouthy Adams]

The standard lighting one will find at the local Lowes and Home Depot in the chandlier department is going to come stock with a plastic coated tranlucent "zip" cord and added auxillary braided wire..AND it is designed to hang from any standard overhead electrical fixure...and that is all there is to it..proper connection of the hot, common and aux braided ground wire is the key and again that is all you will ever have to work with. be sure you supply is grounded..

The braided wire of the fixture is ground..be sure to connect it thusly. The other two wires are hot and common...the hot will be the small tab at the bottom of the lamp socket...the screw base is the common....hook this way...identify with a ohm meter if wires are already cut and the larger common blade cannot now be identified back to the zip cord...by the mere fact that the unit you are referring to is complete with suspension chain with interwoven three wires (braided ground) it is totally suitable for hardwiring when suspended on a proper crossbar/box support in the overhead to withstand the weight of the fixture and wired correctly..there will be no access by which anyone can unplug or expose any wiring to the living quarters.

Now you may have other variable where such as maybe 3 or 4 way light switches...the neutral/common of the feed wire to the light is often used as a hot wire also..code says this is covered by black tape..don't always count on the prior owner/worker to ever do this every time..this is where you need to know your stuff and identify all leads and the manner in which power is supplied to the fixture...there a number of ways to do this in 3 way 4 way and of course where you source power even on a stand single switch circuit.

Keep in mind that most codes restrict lighting to 7 fixtures total per breaker feed and wattage not to exceed 80% of the rated feed which on lighting at 14 guage wire is 15 amps..(wattage fluxuates with suppied voltage so wattage will not be quoted)

also if your house is a few years old odds are there is no such thing as a ground wire on the lighting circuit..matter of fact even homes in the mix late 60 or so was still running non grounded outlets (should be polarized though)..do not false ground a circuit in this type situation..adding or running an aux ground is not suitable to code..upgrading your wiring is best at any given situation.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Tim Adams

[knighthawk]

I've run it to lites (especially ceiling fans) where they have the power going to the lite at all times and have the switch on the return, or ground side. Cheap insurance is, before you touch anything, is to use a cheap $10 pencil style tester (available at Lowes ) . I always check it, even with the switch or breaker off.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Larry, that is a most wise idea...I completely ripped out all the existing wiring in this 100 year old farm house when I bought it in 1994..there was exposed bare wires throughout the house..wired by the folks working for the railroad in 1934/35 as I was told..old school was run to the overhead juntion..pig the switch to the wall..now they do just the opposite..

my friend just contracted a house to be built..the electrical was subcontracted..at power on..half the stuff did not work..I think Ray Charles had the lead on the job and Curry Larry and Moe was the go-fers..I looked at it..told him to get the contractor back out and follow the list of items not right that we discovered..they did get it..but what a fiasco

Edited February 12, 2010 by Tim Adams

[james curl]

My house was originally wired in '21 with knob and tube single wires, later had some romex added, mid span splices. Not a single junction box in the attic. When I pulled the circuit breaker cover I discovered that the white wires were hot and the black wires were common. The house had one duplex outlet in each of the four bedrooms. two in the dining and living rooms, three in the kitchen and a plug in the bathroom light fixture. When I was removing the wiring I tested each duplex outlet with my test light, then I pulled them if they were dead. I tested the ones in the living room, one was hot and the other was cold, I thought. When I pulled the duplex receptacle they had broken the side connectors and had a hot to the top from one circuit breaker and one to the bottom from a different circuit breaker, from then on I tested both sides of the outlet. When I took my plan down to the inspection office to pull my permit they wrote 3/0 wire size for my power to the main discounnect which I thought was pretty big but did it , they hooked me up with #2 triplex and I questioned their choice and was told that they were in free air and I was enclosed in a pipe which made the difference.

[aero3113]

I decided to find a chandelier that was made to be hardwired. I rather not take a chance just in case.