Processing: CFl wiring help!

[Pain killer]

So I went out and got all my cfls today and I got sockets for them and 14g wire. Now tell me how do i hook these all together so I can plug them in an outlet? Im scared im going to end up electrocuting myself or burning the house down. Has anyone else ever wired up their own bulbs together?

[Slapshot]

Originally Posted by Brocoli

So I went out and got all my cfls today and I got sockets for them and 14g wire. Now tell me how do i hook these all together so I can plug them in an outlet? Im scared im going to end up electrocuting myself or burning the house down. Has anyone else ever wired up their own bulbs together?

I built this. http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=127038

I've had it running for about a week straight (24/0) and no problems.

Just strip the end of a $1 extension cord. IDK if polarity is an issue being that it's alternating current and the ballast is in the base, so I wired the "hot" to the "hot" anyway just to be safe. (hot being the wire coming from the skinny plug)

Wire it in parallel so that the hot goes from one socket to the hot on the next. It's really simple, just look at my thread.

Found a pic for ya.

Spoiler: Click to toggle

[The Cheshire Cat]

If you're going to use a lamp chord, I'd test voltages to see which is hot. Also, I'd be more prone to using an extension chord with a ground. If you're in the US, the black wire is hot, white is neutral and the green is ground for standard 120VAC grounded.

[The Cheshire Cat]

The gold screw would be your hot wire. That means it has voltage coming through it. The silver is your neutral.

[Slapshot]

Yes, you can use one cord. I'd just buy a new one, you know, constantly evolving safety standards and all. The cord will say how many watts it can handle, people use these things on space heaters and toaster ovens all the time which suck a hell of a lot more juice than a few cfl's.

Skinny plug has the hot wire, and there is no ground on 2 prong cords. My sockets had the silver screw as the hot. (I think, lol)

[The Cheshire Cat]

Yes, the skinny is hot. The screw code may be different for certain plugs. I'm use to using these....





And, it's been a while since I've done electrical work.

[Slapshot]

Originally Posted by Brocoli

okay so i got three bulbs hooked up sucessfully. I want to hook up six to the entire cord. Would that be a good idea?

Probably, lol. Let me know, my socket splitters will be here any day now and I'll have 6x 26w on one cord.

[Slapshot]

Originally Posted by Brocoli

im using a knife to cut through the cord

roll the wire on a razor blade and slit it.

[zombo.com]

tariel was just talking about setting up a sequence of cfl's in DIY, you might take a look
http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=73725

see if theres anything helpful there.

edit: oh good shit, he gave us a how to:
http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=128731

[zombo.com]

you see tariels how to? he put up pictures and stuff.

[tariel]

Originally Posted by Slapshot

roll the wire on a razor blade and slit it.

You will have to look at what kind if wire you are using. The wire I used had many small strands inside(some have one thick piece). I stripped the insulation as explained in the quote, then pushed the tip of a pencil through to split the strands in half. You can then take your connecting wire, put it through the hole made by the pencil, then twist back together.

It should liike like this: -<I>-

"I" being the short connecting wire from the socket fixture, the <> being the split fibres from the main cable. After this, a good layer of insulating tape should do it. I prefered to add a layre of epoxy after this just for good measure.