Homemade Light

[Steven Carubia]

I need to build a light for a bathroom similar to a vanity light. I want 6 evenly spaced bulbs along a strip of wood or some sort of hard reflective material. What I'm unsure about is wiring. How do I wire the sockets in parallel? Most importantly, how do I ground this unit? I've included pictures of the porcelain sockets I have in mind and they do not have a ground terminal (nor does every other type of porcelain socket at Lowes). I want to use 14/3 SJOW wire and for this unit to generally be as safe as possible. I've read here and on Roger Deakin's forums how easy it is to construct these lights, but the details I'm requesting in this post are those which are never discussed! I look forward to hearing from you.

[Rob Vogt]

My friend had made this a long time ago and it seems similar to what you want.

 

 

We just plugged all the sockets into a power strip with surge protection. I wouldn't go over 150W w/ all bulbs to play it on the safe side. Hope that helps.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

You could also look for one of the long lighting chain they sell for construction sites and then just put it onto a long board and hide the wiring behind. I think I have a 50' or so 6 light one we bought as a practical for a film which I've done this to a few times (to make small overhead chicken-coup like lights). I try to keep it non-destructive and just tie up the excess cable behind it, because you never know when you'll need that strip-light prop again! Each socket is rated for 100W or so, but I normally keep them at 60W soft bulbs or sometimes 75W clears.

[Phil Rhodes]

You could put compact fluorescent low-energy bulbs in them too, though watch for colour and flicker issues. The two lights I built that I use most are five 20W compact fluorescents each, and they're fine on both video and DSLR. They're very slightly green-cyanish on film, but correctable.

 

P

[Stuart Brereton]

I need to build a light for a bathroom similar to a vanity light. I want 6 evenly spaced bulbs along a strip of wood or some sort of hard reflective material. What I'm unsure about is wiring. How do I wire the sockets in parallel? Most importantly, how do I ground this unit? I've included pictures of the porcelain sockets I have in mind and they do not have a ground terminal (nor does every other type of porcelain socket at Lowes). I want to use 14/3 SJOW wire and for this unit to generally be as safe as possible. I've read here and on Roger Deakin's forums how easy it is to construct these lights, but the details I'm requesting in this post are those which are never discussed! I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Wire in parallel. Don't worry about the lack of ground terminal. As with all lamps it is a good idea to use some sort of RCD.