# wiring a chandelier HELP!



## brant (Feb 18, 2008)

hello all, first post and let me begin by saying i am impressed with the quality of help offered by this forum from my very brief browsing. hopefully some of you can help me with what is probably no brainer questions...

my chandelier came with NO instructions on the wiring, i guess they assumed it was too easy to warrant proper direction 








Each light fixture has 2 wires coming out, one has black writing, one is blank. all 6 fixtures converge in the center to be wired to the main lines.












This picture in the background you can see the center wiring. it has a ground (green line) and 2 wires which are completely blank, no ridges, marking, etc to discern which is hot/negative.


I would assume I wire all the ones with the writing to one, and all the blanks to the other? the problem is when it goes into the fixture there is no way to tell whats what when it comes out on the other end. it DOES matter, doesnt it?



lastly, in the second picture there is the ground, which i wire into the green screw on the mount, but what about the raw end that comes out of the bottom, where does that attach? 



so i need your help with those 3 things. 

1)how to wire the fixtures into the center line properly
2) how to hardwire the center wires once the bulb fixtures are connected( + how to tell hot/neutral)
3)where to attach the bottom part of the ground. 





sincere thanks to anyone who can take the time to help me out. 



brant


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

Please edit your post by hitting enter in the middle of each line of text
making the lines of text shorter. It is very hard to read having to pan and
scan the browser back and forth to read such long lines of text that go 
off the screen.

The black or hot connection goes to the center contacts of the various lamp
sockets, the white or neutral goes to the shells of the lamp sockets.
To look better, the exposed wires are transparent rather than white, green, etc.
Normally if the wires are colored gold and silver (I could not tell in the
pictures), the gold wires will be the hot and the silver wires will be the
neutral. You may want a volt/ohm meter to verify this, and put colored
tape on the wire ends temporarily until you complete the connections.

One wire seems to have a metal loop on it. This should be ground and attached to the
center post of the fixture. You will need to unscrew the various finials and ring
nuts and experiment to see where the ring fits best without looking unattractive.


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## brant (Feb 18, 2008)

thank you- i resized the pics to hopefully help the readability.

the wires are the exact same color so i cannot discern which is which, and after i do wire them in, the center wire spins so many times in the shaft i cant tell which is which by the time it reaches the final destination to be hardwired. 

for the ground, i understand how to wire it into the green nut, but on the other end of the ground wire it is just exposed, and there is seemingly no place to attach it.


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## InPhase277 (Feb 9, 2008)

brant said:


> thank you- i resized the pics to hopefully help the readability.
> 
> the wires are the exact same color so i cannot discern which is which, and after i do wire them in, the center wire spins so many times in the shaft i cant tell which is which by the time it reaches the final destination to be hardwired.
> 
> for the ground, i understand how to wire it into the green nut, but on the other end of the ground wire it is just exposed, and there is seemingly no place to attach it.


The ground probably attaches to an eye loop connector meant to be snugged between two nuts on the threaded rod. As for the insulated wires, the one with the writing on it most likely goes to the white wire in the ceiling box. This has been a long tradition in lamp making. It used to be called the "identified conductor". If you have a test meter, check the continuity between the shell of the lamp socket and each wire.

InPhase277


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## brant (Feb 18, 2008)

_The ground probably attaches to an eye loop connector meant to be snugged between two nuts on the threaded rod.

_-that part i know, but what about the other end? its just dangling there inside...?do i wire it in with the hot or neutral_, _or sauder it to something?_

As for the insulated wires, the one with the writing on it most likely goes to the white wire in the ceiling box. This has been a long tradition in lamp making. It used to be called the "identified conductor". If you have a test meter, check the continuity between the shell of the lamp socket and each wire._

because the wires with the writing attach to a blank wire that runs into the lamp, it is impossible to tell which is which on the exit end that you hardwire...thank you identifying what each wire is/means but i cannot discern which is which at the end...i have a 50/50 chance i suppose...what happens if i just wire them both up and then hardwire them and im wrong?

thanks again for all the help!


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

If the hot (socket bottom) and neutral (socket shell) lines got swapped by mistake, the lights will still work but there is just the slight additional hazard of electrocution if you unscrew and replace a bulb with the power still on.

The other, raw, end of the wire with the attached ring is supposed to be connected to the bare or green ground wire up in the junction box in the ceiling where the chandelier is hung from. If it is not long enough you can splice in a similar looking piece of wire or a stranded bare copper wire that is strung through the chain links of the chandelier.


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## goose134 (Nov 4, 2007)

If you take a continuity tester and test the wires that come out of each lamp socket you can tell which is which. As has been mentioned before, the screw shell is the white wire you are looking for.


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## brant (Feb 18, 2008)

so for wiring all the socket wires into the main line, i should group all the whites and wire them into one line, and all the blacks and wire them into the other? those will make for some mighty big groupings since the chandelier has 8 bulbs... or is there another way i can wire all the sockets together and still keep the proper current?

thanks again everyone!

brant


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

Did all the wires to the various sockets come pre-assembled to a single pair of wires (hot and neutral) coming out the top center post (tube/ rod). Or is this a kit where you have to connect up the 8 sockets and then assemble the center and then hang the chandelier and then attach the two top wires to the black and white up in the ceiling?

If you have trouble connecting nine wires with one wire nut, then obtain short additional 6 inch sections of stranded wire and connect, say, four socket wires and one short section (pigtail), then connect the other end of the pigtail to another group of 3 socket wires plus a second pigtail, and connect the other end of that pigtail, etc. This will depend on enough space in the centerpiece.

Now I have done such things as wrapped around and soldered all nine wires to one short piece of bare wire about 1-1/2 inches long and used electrical tape (no wire nuts) to cover it all. (Repeat for the nine neutral wires.) You can probably get away with this inside the chandelier but soldered connections are not permitted in ceiling or wall junction boxes.


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## brant (Feb 18, 2008)

allan it is a kit like you said, all need to be assembled together, and then run into the center line. the main concern is the 2 center line wires are blank and i was afraid of wiring it up backwards.










thank you for the help!

ps- the other way someone suggested was wiring all the sockets together in a sequence, black to white to black to white, etc. all the way around, with the 2 main wires being the first and last wires in the set. parallel circuitry?


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## HouseHelper (Mar 20, 2007)

> ps- the other way someone suggested was wiring all the sockets together in a sequence, black to white to black to white, etc. all the way around, with the 2 main wires being the first and last wires in the set. parallel circuitry?


That would place all the bulbs in series; they will be dim and if one should burn out, they all go out. DO NOT wire it this way. 

You need to connect all the wires that connect to the socket shell together with one of the wires that runs to the ceiling (should be the one with ridges on the side), and all of the wires that connect to the center tab to the other wire. Allen makes some good suggestions on how to do this.


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## brant (Feb 18, 2008)

thanks for that info. i will wire it the way that you and allen suggested. the only difference being that the center wires have no ridges, writing, etc, so i cant discern which is which, esp when coming out on the other end to wire into the black/white in the ceiling. so worst case scenario i would wire it in backwards, and have to reverse it at the box?


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

At least wire up the eight side (arm/branch) wires with the ridge or lettering to one of the center wires, and wire up the eight side wires without the ridge or lettering to the other center wire. This way, if you get it wrong, only one pair of wires (up at the ceiling) needs to be swapped.

But still, use of a continuity checker (or ohmmeter) is desirable to make absolutely sure that the wires with the writing on them go to the socket shells. For all I know, the manufacturer may have assumed or pretended that it makes no difference which wire is which. I would not bother to undo and redo the two rats nests of nine wires each down in the middle of the chandelier if per chance I got one or two pairs wrong.


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## goose134 (Nov 4, 2007)

It sounds like you don't have a continuity tester. Is there any way you could get one from someone you know, or purchase an inexpensive one? The problem with guessing at which wires are which is you've got a 50/50 chance at every socket. You could get them ALL right or any combination. Here's the end result: Best case scenario: it turns on. Worst case: shock hazard. You've done everything right so far, why stop now?


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## brant (Feb 18, 2008)

very good point. ill look into it this evening and see if i can dig one up.


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