OT - any electricians here?

Dave H (MI)

Well-known Member
Picked up a box lot of antique wall sconces at an auction. My wife really likes these but when I turn them over there is just that keyhole hanger to go over the head of a screw and no obvious way to attach to an electrical box. Further, there is felt on the back like they were hung against a painted surface. I have never seen anything like this. The bases are ceramic so no drilling holes. Anyone have any idea how to attach these to a flush electrical box?


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Back in the day you could buy that pipe/conduit, threaded the full length, at any decent hardware store in 3'-4' lengths. One would need a standard electrical box fitting with the threaded hole in the center commonly used for lighting fixtures; mount in on the box. Remove the pipe that is in your fixture and replace it with a piece cut to extend beyond the base a bit and simply screw it in. Might take a bit of finagling but not difficult
 
Showcrop ..... I agree fully. One problem though is getting them all to give you the same answer. That can be somewhat confusing ..... ha!
 
(quoted from post at 16:53:15 01/28/23) There is a recessed outlet made to hang a wall clock. It has an outlet to plug into and a hook to hang the clock


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Outlet


Thank you onefarmer. I had never heard of that. But I suppose that is why people hire architects.
 
Take the bracket out. Then get a threaded strap to go across the box. Screw a nipple into the strap, pass the wire through the nipple and into the fixture, secure it to the nipple with a nut.
Threaded Nipples
 
1/8 inch straight pipe thread is what is holding the fixture together now. Use the cross strap mentioned below that bridges a octagon box, and has female 1/8 inch straight pipe thread in its center. replace the existing short nipple, or use a coupling to get to the wall cross strap. use wire nuts to attach the wires. Jim
 
So the part that confuses me is how do I attach the sconce base to the box? Just spin it on? once the base is close to the wall there is no access behind it. Am I missing something? I've been known to miss the obvious before.
 
I would make sure the new pipe was maybe 1/4 inch longer than needed to just reach the cross. then attah the wiring with maybe 12 inches of extra wire. Now turn the fixture in the air ccw maybe 6 turns winding the wire. next fit the pipe into the cross and turn cw till snug, pushing the ire under to avoid a pinch. Jim
 
A lot of times in old houses they never used an electrical box. The sconces were just screwed to the lathe. The light switches and outlets in my parents house were done like that. The mounting bracket on your light was probably just screwed to the lathe or the stud in the wall.
 
There is an outlet like that in my dining room. I have been wondering for over 28 years what its purpose is. Now I know. I have never seen another one.
 
Im less worried about how its mounted as I am that it be properly grounded as its metal and that cheap cord is stuck close in there. They make thin flat mounting metal boxes (which I would ground) maybe 1/4 inch or less that flat mount to a surface and the light fixture mounts to them with two threaded bolts or center 1/8 close nipples

John T
 
That was the best I could come up with too. I thought about the CCW wind first and hoped it would be enough to take tension off the wire when the fixture was screwed on. I am also contemplating fabricating a back plate for the sconce with screw holes for the electrical box and attaching it permanently to that. I have to take measurements to see if this is practical. Would help with the grounding issue also. Thanks everyone for letting me pick your brains!
 

It looks like maybe the hanger hole is above the center of the surface that would touch the wall..

If you hung it from the upper screw of a standard metal outlet box, would the bottom of box be exposed at all??
 
Five years ago I was using an old metal jacketed Thor brand power drill with a lot of torque to mix mortar when I came to realize that it was lacking a good ground. My wife had been using it too and mentioned it kinda made your hair stand on end when you used it. That was enough for me. I took it in the shop and grounded the metal jacket thru the cord and put a three prong plug on it. That worked. I will do similar here. Don't care to repeat that experience.
 
In our farmhouse the whole square is reassessed not just the center round, so you can roll up the cord and fit it all in there. From mid 1960 remodel.

Paul
 

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