It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about wiring a lamp, a computer, a car, a house, or a phone system. These electrical systems use the same basic principle of connection and control. In this article, however, we’ll explain how to wire a lamp with multiple bulbs using a regular lamp cord and wires.
When it comes to wiring a lamp, you may think that you’d only need to worry about a single bulb. But here, that’s not the case. You may be surprised by how many different ways you can wire a lamp. In fact, you may have wires hanging off the light socket already, but you’re not sure where they all go.
Enough talking, let’s get straight into wiring a lamp with 2 or more bulbs.
How to wire a lamp with multiple bulbs
If you’ve ever disassembled a lamp, then you know that the wiring inside can sometimes be a bit confusing. Sure, it may seem like a simple enough job, but when you add multiple bulbs, you’re bound to run into some problems. But fear not—we’re here to help.
If you have more bulbs, you will need more cords. Anyway, it’s not as complicated as it seems.
Here’s how to wire a lamp with multiple bulbs:
1. Getting ready
The first and most important thing is to turn off and completely disassemble the lamp, which primarily includes removing the lampshade.
2. Remove the wires
Open the cap on the wire connection housing (often it’s a simple pop-off).
In this step, the most important thing is to remove the main lamp cord that goes all the way to the base of the lamp, and along with it, the smaller cables that go to the socket. You will usually achieve this by removing all the screws.
3. Preparing a new lamp cord
Depending on how many bulbs you have, you need to prepare more cords. If there are 2 bulbs, then you must have 3 cords: 2 that go to the bulbs and one main one that goes to the base. The length of the individual cords depends on your lamp and the distance to the sockets.
Strip some of the outer insulation from both ends of each wire.
4. Routing the cords
All cords must be passed through the lamp itself. The main cord must go from the very base of the lamp, while you pass the others (depending on the number of bulbs) to the socket itself for each individual bulb.
Once you’ve pushed the cords through to the bulb itself, you can make the job easier by grabbing the cord with pliers on the other side and pulling it toward you so that it emerges on the surface.
5. Connect cords to sockets
The most complicated part is over, now you just need to connect the cords to the sockets of each individual bulb to make them functional. You will do this by winding the cord around the screw located on the socket itself. You can first unscrew the screw, then wrap the bare part of the cord right at the very edge of the top of the screw, and then twist it.
Repeat the same thing for the other sockets.
6. Connecting all the cords
After you have connected the cords to all the individual sockets, it is necessary to connect the cords themselves to the main cord so that everything is fully functional. It’s very simple, just twist them so that they intertwine and put a wire nut on them.
Again – it all depends on how many bulbs you intend to connect.
7. Attaching a new cord plug
We just have to install a new plug. We will do this by taking apart the old one. After dismantling, thread the new cord through the plug’s core and attach its ends to the screw terminals.
Reassemble the plug completely and that’s it. That’s how to wire a lamp with multiple bulbs.
Can you wire light bulbs in a series?
Of course, you can wire the bulbs in series. The only downside to this (series lighting circuit) is that you can’t manipulate the lamps individually. If you turn off the main one, you will also turn off the others.
How do you wire 3 lights in a series (3 bulbs)?
You can connect 3 light bulbs in series by directly connecting their sockets. After you have finished connecting the sockets to each other, the main cord must connect the first socket and the base of the lamp (main source) in order for the serial lighting to be functional.
Conclusion
In conclusion, to wire a lamp, you must first understand how lamps work, and even how light bulbs create light. If you know how to wire a light fixture and how to install a bulb, it’s pretty simple to add more bulbs and connect everything! If you are a newbie, it might seem difficult to do. But, if you take your time to understand how things work, you will get the hang of it in no time.
Follow the above-mentioned steps and you will know how to wire a lamp with multiple bulbs.
