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To be honest this is actually kind of fun, if this was my own lamp I wouldn't have any second thoughts about fixing it. But being there is so much at stake I want to be damn sure I'm doing this right. (Btw., there is still a man in the house when it comes to my clients, he's the one I have to consult with when it comes to this project. His wife is just kind of standing back and feeling all mortified, she's hoping we won't screw her antique lamp up too much.)
Back to the lamp wire stuff - besides learning that the ribbed sheathing designates the ground wire I also learned the sheathing with the tiny unreadable numbers is the hot one, eh, you learn something new every day.
Back to the lamp wire stuff - besides learning that the ribbed sheathing designates the ground wire I also learned the sheathing with the tiny unreadable numbers is the hot one, eh, you learn something new every day.
That looks good, and the socket base & body just 'snap together' - there usually isn't any alignment or fasteners needed. The base of the socket might screw onto a nipple for attachment, or there might be a small setscrew - get the base of the socket secured to the lamp FIRST and then push the top section down onto it.
BTW (too late now, but for another time), it's usually less expensive to just buy a suitable length extension cord and cut-off the receptacle end - versus buying separate cord and plug. Unless you want partical color / styles.
Jay
BTW (too late now, but for another time), it's usually less expensive to just buy a suitable length extension cord and cut-off the receptacle end - versus buying separate cord and plug. Unless you want partical color / styles.
Jay
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A few days ago, I also face the same problem with my father's car. Then I bought a Megaboost Battery Maintainer MB1100 Lithium. This thing is awesome and also capable of charging fully drained lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries. It’s used spark-proof technology for protection from overcharging, that’s why I connected it to the battery 24 hours without any problem. I am fully satisfied of it. You can also try this.
Tricycle Rider said:Right, it's been a while since I've had to do a DIY, need some help with a car battery charger. Here's the story...
My mom barely drives her '87 Honda CRX these days, so the battery frequently goes dead. So, instead of having to jump it each and every time is there a charger that will keep the battery constantly charged?
There are a lot of products on the interwebs, but I'm somewhat confused by it all. So any info would be highly appreciated.
A few days ago, I also face the same problem with my father's car. Then I bought a Megaboost Battery Maintainer MB1100 Lithium. This thing is awesome and also capable of charging fully drained lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries. It’s used spark-proof technology for protection from overcharging, that’s why I connected it to the battery 24 hours without any problem. I am fully satisfied of it. You can also try this.
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Burning update on the lamp DIY (j/k, nothing has caught fire yet)...
Thankfully my clients agreed to replacing the cord, the trickiest (and most suspenseful) part was feeding the new cord through the floor lamp, which is about 5ft tall. I just used a strong piece of string and attached it to the old cord, pulled the old cord out, and then attached the string to the new cord and gently pulled it back through. Mercifully the string didn't break, I'm not sure how I would have fed the cord through then because in some areas the lamp stand got a bit narrow and tight.
The next challenge was attaching this ring that tightens around the socket which the lampshade hangs on, the ring is much too wide and I wasn't able to find a mogul socket like Jay had mentioned. So I just wrapped a whole bunch of electrical tape around the socket, this widened it enough to where I could fit the ring around it tightly. The shade is ceramic and actually much lighter than I thought, so with any luck it won't come crashing down anytime in the near future.
Anyhoo, the lamp is mostly decorative and won't be used regularly, but it was kind of fun learning something new in terms of a DIY. As usual, thanks guys for your tips and help.
Thankfully my clients agreed to replacing the cord, the trickiest (and most suspenseful) part was feeding the new cord through the floor lamp, which is about 5ft tall. I just used a strong piece of string and attached it to the old cord, pulled the old cord out, and then attached the string to the new cord and gently pulled it back through. Mercifully the string didn't break, I'm not sure how I would have fed the cord through then because in some areas the lamp stand got a bit narrow and tight.
The next challenge was attaching this ring that tightens around the socket which the lampshade hangs on, the ring is much too wide and I wasn't able to find a mogul socket like Jay had mentioned. So I just wrapped a whole bunch of electrical tape around the socket, this widened it enough to where I could fit the ring around it tightly. The shade is ceramic and actually much lighter than I thought, so with any luck it won't come crashing down anytime in the near future.
Anyhoo, the lamp is mostly decorative and won't be used regularly, but it was kind of fun learning something new in terms of a DIY. As usual, thanks guys for your tips and help.
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Thanks, Jay!
That's actually a great tip. I bought I cord that already came with a plug, but next time I'm fixing something I'll have to remember this.JayKosta said:
Thanks, Jay!
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The old socket fit a regular bulb, does "mogul" mean just in terms of socket circumference? Or does it need a wider based bulb?
That thought had occurred to me, wonder if I can get a mogul socket online. (Too lazy to go to an actual store.)JayKosta said:
The old socket fit a regular bulb, does "mogul" mean just in terms of socket circumference? Or does it need a wider based bulb?
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How do I even explain the latest step in my clients' lamp project (would just prefer to take the damn lamp home with me so I could adjust things as needed, but as things stand I have to rely on memory)...
Don't really need a mogul socket because I need the Edison's screw thingy in order to attach the socket to the rest of the lamp, so still have to improvise on how to make a modern E26 socket fit the damn lampshade part of the lamp.
The lampshade hangs on a clamp thingy, that clamp cannot be replaced because it's attached to the ring that the lampshade hangs on. But the clamp is too wide for the new E26 socket. So, I have to make the socket fatter, thought I'd use an old bike chain link, but that wasn't quite stable enough. So...
My latest idea is to use a part of an old wind chime - the metal is quite light, so I believe it to be aluminum, and therefore reasonably heat-resistant. (My clients will only be using a 15W bulb, I'm not looking to fix some kind of a super-bright military grade light here.) There are holes on each side of the wind chime part, which should make it more pliable once attaching it to the socket itself with the clamp.
Crikes, it's so hard to explain what I'm trying to do, hopefully these pictures will make some sense. The black tie thingy is supposed to represent the lamp's clamp, will know if this will work tomorrow when I go to work.
PS - The electrical part I know I did right, it's now just the cosmetic part I'm obsessed with. Rest assured once I'm pleased enough with my latest DIY project, though, I'll be posting pictures of it.
Don't really need a mogul socket because I need the Edison's screw thingy in order to attach the socket to the rest of the lamp, so still have to improvise on how to make a modern E26 socket fit the damn lampshade part of the lamp.
The lampshade hangs on a clamp thingy, that clamp cannot be replaced because it's attached to the ring that the lampshade hangs on. But the clamp is too wide for the new E26 socket. So, I have to make the socket fatter, thought I'd use an old bike chain link, but that wasn't quite stable enough. So...
My latest idea is to use a part of an old wind chime - the metal is quite light, so I believe it to be aluminum, and therefore reasonably heat-resistant. (My clients will only be using a 15W bulb, I'm not looking to fix some kind of a super-bright military grade light here.) There are holes on each side of the wind chime part, which should make it more pliable once attaching it to the socket itself with the clamp.
Crikes, it's so hard to explain what I'm trying to do, hopefully these pictures will make some sense. The black tie thingy is supposed to represent the lamp's clamp, will know if this will work tomorrow when I go to work.
PS - The electrical part I know I did right, it's now just the cosmetic part I'm obsessed with. Rest assured once I'm pleased enough with my latest DIY project, though, I'll be posting pictures of it.
My mention of a mogul socket was if the OLD bulb was too large to fit into a regular socket. The mogul socket and bulb base are much larger than standard, and for high wattage bulbs.
I can't visualize how the shade attached to the old socket / lamp. If there's a real 'old time hardware store' in your area they might be able to help.
Jay
I can't visualize how the shade attached to the old socket / lamp. If there's a real 'old time hardware store' in your area they might be able to help.
Jay
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The only issue now is the lamp was stupidly designed for a pull-string socket, I'm worried the socket (plus shade) will come crashing down if you pull on the string too hard. It's hard to explain, I'll try to take some pics when I'm at work.
In the meantime I've been working on another project, this time it was a faulty patio motion sensor light. Didn't know whether it was the bulbs or the fixture itself that had failed, so I bought a new one, plus some bulbs, in case I couldn't fix the old one. As it turns out I was able to fix the old one (don't know what went wrong other than the sensor was not in its socket properly), so now I can go and return all the new stuff I had just bought.
Home repair projects - you gotta love 'em!
No worries, Jay, I got the new narrower socket to work with the piece of the wind chime I had sawed to size, everything is holding up well.JayKosta said:
The only issue now is the lamp was stupidly designed for a pull-string socket, I'm worried the socket (plus shade) will come crashing down if you pull on the string too hard. It's hard to explain, I'll try to take some pics when I'm at work.
In the meantime I've been working on another project, this time it was a faulty patio motion sensor light. Didn't know whether it was the bulbs or the fixture itself that had failed, so I bought a new one, plus some bulbs, in case I couldn't fix the old one. As it turns out I was able to fix the old one (don't know what went wrong other than the sensor was not in its socket properly), so now I can go and return all the new stuff I had just bought.
Home repair projects - you gotta love 'em!
Glad everything is working out ok.
We're expecting it to be very cold tomorrow thru Sunday morning (near or below 0 all the time), but luckily we're not getting the heavy snow that's hitting the east coast. Just plan on 'hunkering down' inside for a few days and hope that all the utilities stay working. This is our 'weather guess' for the next couple of days -
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.09810&lon=-76.0567&unit=0&lg=english&FcstType=graphical
Jay
We're expecting it to be very cold tomorrow thru Sunday morning (near or below 0 all the time), but luckily we're not getting the heavy snow that's hitting the east coast. Just plan on 'hunkering down' inside for a few days and hope that all the utilities stay working. This is our 'weather guess' for the next couple of days -
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.09810&lon=-76.0567&unit=0&lg=english&FcstType=graphical
Jay
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Here it's current drizzling, was thinking about taking the xmas lights off the house. But being it's just too wet and chilly for my taste (and being I don't wish to take a trip to the ER because I had inadvertently taken a wrong step off the ladder), I'll just put it off till the weather gets better.
Hope you guys will be staying warm and dry, hope your heating units hold up as well! (Not to mention your electricity, fixing public utility poles I'm afraid is a DIY none of us are equipped to do.)
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, looks a bit chilly in your parts.JayKosta said:
Here it's current drizzling, was thinking about taking the xmas lights off the house. But being it's just too wet and chilly for my taste (and being I don't wish to take a trip to the ER because I had inadvertently taken a wrong step off the ladder), I'll just put it off till the weather gets better.
Hope you guys will be staying warm and dry, hope your heating units hold up as well! (Not to mention your electricity, fixing public utility poles I'm afraid is a DIY none of us are equipped to do.)
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Hope Jay is staying warm and comfy, here are some piccys of the antique floor lamp I've been working on.
First pictures shows the clamp that I added a piece of wind chime to, from this angle the lampshade looks off-center. Doesn't matter, though, my clients have the lamp in such a place and at such a position that you wouldn't even notice it.
Second picture shows the lamp in its full glory - this DIY was a bit of a pain in the arse, but this is such a pretty lamp I thought it was worth the trouble and the effort. (Sorry the pic is sideways, apparently tiny pic won't let me rotate a picture.)
On to the next DIY - turns out the old motion sensor light I thought I had fixed was bad after all, the sensor was just all over the place and doing whatever it wanted. So I just decided to buy a new one, now I have to wait till it gets dark to see if I had hooked it up correctly. The suspense is just killing me!
First pictures shows the clamp that I added a piece of wind chime to, from this angle the lampshade looks off-center. Doesn't matter, though, my clients have the lamp in such a place and at such a position that you wouldn't even notice it.
Second picture shows the lamp in its full glory - this DIY was a bit of a pain in the arse, but this is such a pretty lamp I thought it was worth the trouble and the effort. (Sorry the pic is sideways, apparently tiny pic won't let me rotate a picture.)
On to the next DIY - turns out the old motion sensor light I thought I had fixed was bad after all, the sensor was just all over the place and doing whatever it wanted. So I just decided to buy a new one, now I have to wait till it gets dark to see if I had hooked it up correctly. The suspense is just killing me!
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Not sure about this one, but it seemed like a bright idea at the time. Right...
Latest DIY was making a tilting fence stand upright again - not sure whether the cement foundation of a wooden fence post is coming loose because of all the rain, or if the wood post itself is beginning to rot. Either way I found some use for the branches I had just pruned off of other trees/bushes, here's the result.
There is some geometry and other stuff like leverage involved here, but mostly I'm just winging it till the fence either completely collapses, or until the weather gets to the point where the fence can withstand some more of a proper DIY.
As usual I will keep you ardent DIYers posted.
Latest DIY was making a tilting fence stand upright again - not sure whether the cement foundation of a wooden fence post is coming loose because of all the rain, or if the wood post itself is beginning to rot. Either way I found some use for the branches I had just pruned off of other trees/bushes, here's the result.
There is some geometry and other stuff like leverage involved here, but mostly I'm just winging it till the fence either completely collapses, or until the weather gets to the point where the fence can withstand some more of a proper DIY.
As usual I will keep you ardent DIYers posted.
Solid surface fences can take a real beating from wind, and if the posts are not deep & solid enough it's easy for them to loosen in wet ground. Re-doing the concrete base for the posts can be a lot of hard digging, and it's best to make sure none of the other posts around it are leaning ...
Jay
Jay
This may sound dumb to some but I found in the last few years of my life that not everyone washes their own car. I still do.. Every week I wash cars and motorcycles as part of my weekend routine.
I have found that Turtle Wax , Wax and Dry spray is amazing.Its about 3-4 bucks. you spray it on before you dry the car and you get an equivalent finish to a paste wax outcome.The paint shines and water beads up fantastic.. the reason I am so happy with it is an unseen consequence.. the tiny mist of spray that gets on the windows and drying rag leaves behind an invisible film that has rain flying off .without the use of the windshield wipers.. I have used RainX and I like it so.so..it is expensive and it doesn't seem to last all that long..
When I am done drying and before I store the damp cloth I wipe down my motorcycle helmet including the face shield.. same effect.. any light to moderate rain beads up and blows off the helmet, it improves visibility by 100s of %..
I have found very few things costing @3-4 dollars other than milkshakes and beer that give me the value and satisfaction of this mystery Turtle Wax spray..
I have found that Turtle Wax , Wax and Dry spray is amazing.Its about 3-4 bucks. you spray it on before you dry the car and you get an equivalent finish to a paste wax outcome.The paint shines and water beads up fantastic.. the reason I am so happy with it is an unseen consequence.. the tiny mist of spray that gets on the windows and drying rag leaves behind an invisible film that has rain flying off .without the use of the windshield wipers.. I have used RainX and I like it so.so..it is expensive and it doesn't seem to last all that long..
When I am done drying and before I store the damp cloth I wipe down my motorcycle helmet including the face shield.. same effect.. any light to moderate rain beads up and blows off the helmet, it improves visibility by 100s of %..
I have found very few things costing @3-4 dollars other than milkshakes and beer that give me the value and satisfaction of this mystery Turtle Wax spray..
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Right, so while the boys are busying themselves with polishing their cars here's another DIY you can do all on your own without ever having to bother those fine Urgent Care peoples. We're talking about fishing out those splinters!
This one happened to be steel (that was a DIY on a stationary bike I am not ready to talk about yet)...
Just grab some cotton balls, some Isopropyl Alcohol, some tweezers and some picks, and go to town! (If it's merely superficial, that is. Nobody around here wishes for you to lose a limb due to a poorly performed DIY if it is deeper I'm sure.)
This one happened to be steel (that was a DIY on a stationary bike I am not ready to talk about yet)...
Just grab some cotton balls, some Isopropyl Alcohol, some tweezers and some picks, and go to town! (If it's merely superficial, that is. Nobody around here wishes for you to lose a limb due to a poorly performed DIY if it is deeper I'm sure.)
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Okay, so my latest DIY can't really be considered a DIY because being it's cross-stitch the DIY-ing is implied. However, the tricky part about this is figuring out where the last person had left off and where I need to begin.
Thankfully this person (a very dear elderly client of mine) isn't dead yet, but I can definitely see why he gave up on it. Now if only I can make sense of his notes and stuff...
There is a bicycle in that whole mess of things (there's enough thread here to knit a whole goddamn sweater!), so if I stitch nothing else I want to get that bike done.
Stay tuned, about ten years from now I might get this thing finished.
Thankfully this person (a very dear elderly client of mine) isn't dead yet, but I can definitely see why he gave up on it. Now if only I can make sense of his notes and stuff...
There is a bicycle in that whole mess of things (there's enough thread here to knit a whole goddamn sweater!), so if I stitch nothing else I want to get that bike done.
Stay tuned, about ten years from now I might get this thing finished.
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My client cross-stitched one panel, so there are only 27 more to go. And some of the thread colors are so similar... I can see if someone had no tv, no books, no internet, and no other hobbies how this could get done. But being this is the 21st century with its modern distractions this is a pastime that only the most die-hard of cross-stitchers would enjoy. (I am clearly not one of those people.)
Yep, so far I've only managed to stare at the thing and wonder where to start. I'm trying to come up with some kind of a strategy - lol!JayKosta said:
My client cross-stitched one panel, so there are only 27 more to go. And some of the thread colors are so similar... I can see if someone had no tv, no books, no internet, and no other hobbies how this could get done. But being this is the 21st century with its modern distractions this is a pastime that only the most die-hard of cross-stitchers would enjoy. (I am clearly not one of those people.)
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Right, now that it's springtime there's a load of DIYs to tackle... besides gardening and fixing up my bikes for the season I also had to fix a broken reclining chair. (Yep, after a long winter of hibernating my arse really did get that fat.)
After consulting some youtube vids it didn't take too long to identify the problem, the problem was finding out the name of the replacement part. (I always hate it when I don't know what things are called.) Turns out it was the torque reinforcement tube that was broken, apparently Amazon has replacements, so I ordered one.
I think it's the right size, will keep you all posted once it arrives and I attempt to install it.
After consulting some youtube vids it didn't take too long to identify the problem, the problem was finding out the name of the replacement part. (I always hate it when I don't know what things are called.) Turns out it was the torque reinforcement tube that was broken, apparently Amazon has replacements, so I ordered one.
I think it's the right size, will keep you all posted once it arrives and I attempt to install it.
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Update on the reclining chair DIY (cause I know you guys are just dying for it)...
The stupid replacement tube won't arrive till probably Monday - I know it's the right length, but am a bit worried as to whether the holes for the bolts are in the right place, the item description wasn't very good. The suspense is just killing me!
In the meantime I'm holding the chair together with a piece of wood and a couple of fat wood screws, managed to stab myself a few times with a screwdriver because they were really hard to get to.
It's mostly the dog who actually monopolizes the recliner, his 30 pounds haven't broken the fix yet, so he's still able to comfortably recline.
PS - The duct tape on the wood serves no purpose, it's there merely for decoration.
The stupid replacement tube won't arrive till probably Monday - I know it's the right length, but am a bit worried as to whether the holes for the bolts are in the right place, the item description wasn't very good. The suspense is just killing me!
In the meantime I'm holding the chair together with a piece of wood and a couple of fat wood screws, managed to stab myself a few times with a screwdriver because they were really hard to get to.
It's mostly the dog who actually monopolizes the recliner, his 30 pounds haven't broken the fix yet, so he's still able to comfortably recline.
PS - The duct tape on the wood serves no purpose, it's there merely for decoration.
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