Big lamps from Ikea lampan lamps

Step 4 Connecting the power cables

Strip the cables. For connecting the wires I use piggy-backs. Three wires go together in one piggy back ( blue by blue and brown by brown ) then connect the four resulting piggy-backs two by two, and then to a power cable. Use one of the cables you cut off earlier.

Comments

[ludivego]

Just an FYI. It will not look like this if you do this in the US. There is not color coding. I did use a voltmeter when I did mine to make sure that I wired up the same wires to each other. I also soldered the connections and used shrink tubing instead of butt connectors. As for the safety of it. When I bought my lamps at Ikea I also bought the compact fluorescent bulbs (about $4.50 each). They are rated at about 7 watts each so for 6 the lamp is about 42 watts. I have left it on for several hours to see if it would overheat or if the wiring would "melt" so far after about 10 hours of use no problems. All in all I love the lamp and I am thinking of building the 12 lamp version.

[irishchaos]

When you say, "... wired up the same wires to each other", do you mean positive-to-positive and negative-to-negative?  Since there's no color-coding in the U.S. version, I heard that the wire with writing embossed in the plastic is the "hot" wire?  Does it matter, as long as you're consistent?

[ludivego]

Yes it does matter and you do need to be consistent. So Positive to Positive and Negative to Negative.

I used a Digital multimeter and tested the wiring to make sure that it was all consistent.

[whiskeybear00]

 when connecting wire for US. how did you use the voltmeter to makesure the wires were right

[kmcgladr]

Three hours of my life are now gone, and I've been using the recommended "butt splice" connectors and a continuity tester from the Home Depot. I get to the last wire, the absolute last wire, the one that'll connect to the wall outlet. The left prong produces a test light on all twelve lights. The right prong produces a test light on six of the twelve lights. A wire has come loose. Somewhere, buried in the home-made electrical tape & butt splice jacket, a wire has come loose. Switching to soldering. I don't know how many new skills I'm learning, but this is certainly a character building experience. With the solder, I'm also less likely to worry about living with a lamp that might one day burn the apartment down.

[jwopitz]

I really don't have any electrician know-how. I am curious to know the safety implications of wiring these in series/parallel? Can anyone speak to this? Thanks, J