Lampholder Here - What's Wrong?

looks like somebody is using the lampholder as a receptacle. also, the flexible cord is probably being used in place of structure wiring methods

See 410.47

I know those little screw-in plug bodies aren't rated to carry more than 660 watts, or something like that. I wouldn't expect this to last long at all before a failure of the plug body or the fixture socket itself.

A very poor substitute for a properly wired receptacle, hence the code article.

Mike (mamills)

trekkie76's post reminds me...
At my grandparents' house down in the basement, there is a restroom with a curtain. There is a permanately instlled flourescant fixure w/ two outlets on it fed by an 18gauge black ext. cord. The cord is plugged into one of those socket adapters with the light bulb socket and receptacle. As for the light socket, it is one of two wired in a series behind another light socket with an "incansendant replacement" flourescant bulb in it, both controlled by two three-way switches, one by the stairwell, and the other by the garage door. Oh and by the way, I felt a tingle from the non-grounded light fixture on the wall one time when I plugged something in, that's why I looked for the source.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 10-26-2004).]

Is it just me, or is the rubber plug at the end of the cord disintegrating?

Yes, it does look like there's 'something' not right about that plug, I tried to zoom in the pic.
In fact, it almost looks like part of a workshop of someone I know, he has lamp cords and 14-2 romex running tools for his cabinet business. Not only does he wonder why the lights dim when he uses any of those tools, but heck, Id be afraid to work in there! One little spark, and with those barrels of laquer, thinner, etc....well, you can only imagine the possible catastrophe that can lead to...

I've seen (and replaced) plenty of those round rubber plugs that have cracked and split over the years. The rubber dries out and crumbles.

That said, I've NEVER EVER seen anyone (besides me) who knows how to put one of those rubber open-front plugs on properly. All the ones I've seen have had the following things wrong with them:

1) wires stripped too much.

2) wires wrapped the wrong way around the terminal screws.

3) stray wire "hairs" that can come in contact with metal outlet plates if the insulator disk is missing.

5) terminal screws not tightened properly.

4) missing insulator disks (the old cardboard disks have been supplanted by plastic ones -- yes thesee plugs are still manufactured even though they're "outlawed" by The Code).

As a non-professional lurker here (I love this site!) I have a few fluorescent shop lights plugged in in this manner in my basement (only one per porcelean fixture). Is this contrary to code? Is this an unsafe practice, as long as the load is within the limits of any connectors used?

I think Thiggy has a good point- after all, many fluorescent fixtures come with short cords & plugs factory installed, and it's often not practical to remove them!
BUT... now that I think about it, the ones I've seen were three-prong plugs; I believe that fluorescent ballasts often require a good ground in order to work properly.

FWIW, I've had excellent results with compact fluorescents (those funny bulbs that screw into a lampholder).

.
Yes, there is no way to bond the metal parts of the fixture. Especially bad if the fixture is low enough to touch while standing on the concrete(I assume)floor.

John Steinke said:

The temporary-use metal fluorescent shop-lights I've seen all have three-pin grounding connections, I assume to ground the metal shell of the lamp in case of stray currents?

However I've seen some plastic fluorescent lights with two pin plugs.

Would the proper way to solve this issue be to replace the ceramic light fixtures with properly grounded receptacles in the ceiling boxes and plug the shop lights directly into that? Locate the receptacle near enough to the lights so that you don't have to rely on an extension to add length to the lamp-cord?

I have seen stores where window signs are plugged into ceiling mounted receptacles...so I assume this should be fine.

I've seen this item - a porcelain lightsocket with a grounded receptacle on the side:
[img]http://images.lowes.com/product/032664/032664259708.jpg?wid=158&cvt=jpeg]http://images.lowes.com/product/032664/032664259708.jpg?wid=158&cvt=jpeg[/img]

Would this be kosher? Granted you still have the issue of the exposed bulb-socket if all you are using is the receptacle on the side.



[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 10-21-2004).]

I don't believe a ground is required for operation of a flouresent light. I have a trouble light with a 2 wire cord and it works fine.

Big Jim- I also have a fixture with a two-prong plug, and those compact fluorescents obviously don't have a ground.
Yet, I have noticed many ballasts stress the need for a ground in their instructions. Most of these seem to be the 'instant-on' or electronic ballast types, so I can only guess that the ground path is used as a neutral for the electronics when the fixture is 'off.'