Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - how can I light up an old vintage chandlier using a battery for outside

Hi I have and old vintage chandelier. its made for using
indoors but, i want to use is for a dinner party outside for one night under a canopy. the light has five arms and uses 25 watt bulbs. the chandelier is 85 years old and does not have a ground wire. I would like to hook the light up in my house later but, I dont even know what wire is hot or negative. I have installed new fans and light fixtures in my house before with instructions. I like to do creative things . I dont want to harm the light .

can anyone help me?? or tell me where to look or read about this. what kind of battery to use ,car battery etc.. at least tell me how to tell which of the yellow clear plastic coated wires is hot . don't want to hook it up and have a major whoops wrong wire?? I have a book on wiring but it dos'nt talk about old vintage lighting . Ive looked at the wiring on each socket of the chandelier and all of the wires are in good shape and secured well to each socket. the light was working and just taken out of a house built in the 1940's was not there to see or mark the wires..

I just looked at the wires and one wire has black small print numbers and letters on it . it feels round and the other has no markings and feels like a ridge or a bump on the plastic. which wire is the hot one ??

my house is old too (1955) and does not have ground wires . it has the metal tube that encloses all my electrical wires in my house.

thanks jill

Do you have any electrical testing equipment?

With the chandelier, if it is wired correctly the wire with the ridge (the "identified" conductor) is the neutral lead and is connected to the screw shell of the lampholder. Obviously that makes the "unidentified conductor" (the one without the ridge) the "hot" lead.

Of course there is no guarantee that indeed the chandelier IS wired correctly so the wisest course of action would be to make sure by using a continuity tester that the ribbed wire is truly connected to the screw shell of the lampholder.

As for powering this fixture with a battery...yes, it could be done but to do so easily and safely would require using low-voltage lamp bulbs. You may be able to get 12-volt bulbs that fit in the lampholders from a store that carries RV parts and accessories. You would want lamps with low wattages so as not to overload the wiring, low volts means high amperage for any given watt size bulb when compared to "ordinary" 120 volt bulbs. If you were to use five 25 watt, 12 volt bulbs the total amperage "draw" would exceed 10 amperes, quite a bit for what is probably number 18 wire used to connect the fixture. Fifteen watt bulbs would be preferable and only draw a bit over 6 amperes. Yes, a car battery (or better a "deep cycle" RV battery would serve as the power source.


In your house, if you are lucky the conduit (the metal tube enclosing your wires) is continuous and is grounded at the service panel. You may test this by using a solenoid-type tester, often called a "wiggie" and connecting the test leads between the conduit (or metal junction box) and the hot wire when the system is energized. If you do not know which lead is the hot lead then test both leads (one at a time) with one test lead to the wire and the other test lead to the box or conduit.

BE CAREFUL when testing energized circuits that you do not allow either wire to touch the other or the metal box.

Furd,

thank you for telling me about the wires. the only tester I have is a two prong tester that I got at home dopot. I use it to see if the wires are hot before I even mess with them If its hot it lights up ,of course I turn the breaker off first..

I will get some 15 watt bulbs when I get some more wire.and check out the rv battery.

as far as the conduit running through my whole house , yes . Ive had to take some walls down and been up in my attic and the piping runs everywhere ,except for a few new additions . I had the box and switches upgraded about 4 years ago and the panel is grounded outside.

my only concern is would the electricians have checked my wiring for any decay. I changed some fixtures and changed out most of the wall plugs to accommodate a 3 prong cord. When I did this I didn't notice any cloth material around the wires it was a plastic material of two different colors faded white and green. personally I don't understand why they don't continue to use the metal tubing. My mothers house is newer and has the 12 gauge pvc coated wires running through her house . A mouse got in the walls and eat through this wire.

I have had power surges. often, just last night my lights where flickering. I don't think anything is overloaded. my air conditioner and dryer have their own switches..

I don't mess with the big wires just the little ones . Just a little shock is ok .. my mother helped me change out a 220 dryer socket and that was enough excitement for me..

thanks again furd for your knowledge of the amps... jill

just a little shock is not ok, and the size of the wire has nothing to do with if it can kill you or not.

the smallest breaker in your house is 15 amps. it takes less than 1/1000 of that to kill you. Dont think you are safe because the breaker is smaller. Make sure it is off when you work on it.

Jill, I split the topic and moved your next post here.

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=277879

the light has five arms and uses 25 watt bulbs.l
If you mean that the chandelier uses five 25 watt bulbs, you should be able use with a car battery and an inverter. How long do you need to have the light on?

Hello Jill,

It is not quite clear in your post as to why you need to use a battery on this fixture.
Is it because 120 volts is unavailable in the tent?

You say you will be getting 15 watt bulbs and an RV battery but are you getting 125 volt bulbs or 12 volt bulbs?
You can get 12 volt bulbs with a standard edison base but am not aware of them being available in 15 watt.

HI, I want to use a battery because the nearest junction box I have is in my garage and I wanted to use a battery so I wont have to bury or hide 30 feet of wire. I live in the city so, I can't have any bomb fire parties. Plus its going to be a kinda formal setting of table and chairs ,not a grab a case of beer kind of thing.. I will have lit candles too but I want the chandelier as a focal point..

POLYDURAS WHAT IS THE INVERTER. IM GOING TO HAVE THIS PARTY IN 2 WEEKS..

I NEED TO USE THE LIGHT FOR AT LEAST 6 HOURS. FROM 7PM TO MAYBE 1AM. If you think I can use a car battery and just use the 25 watt bulbs then that is what I will try to do . but, I dont want to burn any wires up considering this is going into my house later and I don't want to have to pay to have the thing re- wired. I checked on it before and its not cheap..

I still have not looked for the battery or the lights yet. if its too much of a problem then I will just use the junction box. but, it would be nice to know and a lot less of hiding wire digging time.. thank you jill

This project is getting quite confusing.

You asked about running this chandelier off of a battery, which if you did would require you to install 12 volt bulbs in place of the 120 volt ones that are normally installed.
If you try this you have to make sure that you can get 12 volt bulbs to fit the chandelier in the correct wattage AND voltage.

What Polydorus is referring to is a device that converts 12 volt battery power to 120 volts which is what your lights are already.

Thirty feet is not that far.
If someone knew what they were doing and as long as the lamp stays dry 12 volts is not much safer that 120 volts.
Wired by the wrong person 12 volts can cause just as big a fire.

Check to see if you can get 12 volt bulbs that fit before you do anything.

Yes it is very confusing to me anyway, I have about 10 more things to do and build a tent and make a cake on top of that.

I think Im going to go ahead and just hook it up to the box in the garage. Thinking about it , and it seems just easier than looking for bulbs , converters and batteries.. Some how I will figure it out to dig or hang the wire where its not noticed.

thank you for taking your time and trying to help me.. Im just very detailed about every thing I do and want it to look nice and no I don't want to start any fires!!.. at least I no which wire is the hot one now.
the wires on the fixture are a yellow clear and the round wire without the ridge is the hot wire. I am going to check out this continuity tester and double check to see if the fixture is wired right..

I will post again after and let you know how it turned out and what I did.. I have so much to do.

thank you again. I appreciate your time jill