Wiring a free standing lamp

annoyednow

Hi all,

Any help would be appreciated, I have an old lamp and some of wires have come out.
There are 3 wires- black, red and green, the black is still connected but the other 2 are not. There is only one connection so I am not sure which wire to put back in.

Any ideas in which one to put back in. The lamp is probably about 25 years old.

Thanks

johnayo

annoyednow wrote: »

Hi all,

Any help would be appreciated, I have an old lamp and some of wires have come out.
There are 3 wires- black, red and green, the black is still connected but the other 2 are not. There is only one connection so I am not sure which wire to put back in.

Any ideas in which one to put back in. The lamp is probably about 25 years old.

Thanks

Red is live. Black neutral. Green is earth.

annoyednow

Hi johnayo,

Thanks for the reply, is it the red one I put back in and do I leave the green one out ?, does that make a difference that it is not earthed ?.
Haven't a clue about it to be honest.

Tell me how

annoyednow wrote: »

Hi johnayo,

Thanks for the reply, is it the red one I put back in and do I leave the green one out ?, does that make a difference that it is not earthed ?.
Haven't a clue about it to be honest.

Stay away from it if you are this clueless. Seriously.

If you could post a pic, people might be better able to help but maybe you can't due to your post count.

Ask a friend or an electrician who is capable of doing the work. It'll take 30 seconds but will be safe.

iamthemanwork

The 3 wires on the original lead are there for a reason. The earth wire ...green..must be connected.

Stoner

Yes pop up a picture so that people can see the earth connections on the lamp, you've a 50/50 chance of making the body of the lamp live now by the sounds of it.

Open the plug and take a picture in the connections there too so that we can check that the colours are correct.

It's a quick job once you establish the correct wiring

Steve

Wire with those colours suggest it's really old. I'd replace it altogether. The insulation perishes over time and fails.

40 years ago, a girl in my class in school, lived about 10 doors away, was electrocuted and died because her dad re-wired a lamp and didn't know what he was doing.

annoyednow

I think it's time for it to be rewirded, no point taking any chances.

Thanks for all the replies

Stoner

BTW sometimes the best thing is you might have a lamp you don't like, it will have the the plug, inline switch etc all ready to go.

Even buying a cheap light in IKEA will get you the flex, plug and switch all wired up ready to go .