I'm one to read over instructions and follow them... Most of the time. However, I run into the occasional one that defies logic.

Case in point:

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Step 1 says to hang the strap first, sans fixture. (Not the way I'd do it...)



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Later, step 9 has one weaving it together...

(I'd do this before I'd hang the strap)



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Then later still, in step 12, one gets to twist the thing together, hopefully on an AFCI circuit. This fixture's chain is larger than the canopy hole (7/8") and the screw collar.
(I would make the chain small enough (or canopy hole and screw collar large enough) to get the canopy out of the way and fasten the strap on last!



Wouldn't you?

(Am I just missing something again?)



Did I bust code by hanging it up my own way?

(I used a shorty screwdriver, put the strap on last, and lots of cursing ensued...)

What would you do?

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 11-18-2002).]

What I would do is read the instructions,jump on them repeatedly, then burn them in as hotter fire as possible.
The quality of language in these instructions, vary from confusing to down right un-intelligible, depending on who translated it from Spanish or French or whatever language.
The Pictures only serve to muddy the whole situation, I would like to see helpful pictures AND real information in these instructions.
Mind you, Sparky, these types of fittings are always a pain in the A***, to put up, I've hung heaps of them, with many tears and swear words.

Curious: What is the distance between the screws that go into the box? What is the max load? (lbs, not amps!)

(The box look just like ours on the other side of the pond, but we have a hook in the middle and a socket outlet. Hang lamp. Plug in. Put on cover. Finito. In theory, at least. )

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 11-19-2002).]

Distance between screws = a little less than 4".

Box is good for up to 35 lbs. then a ceiling fan box is required.

This fixture weighs only about 15 lbs.

Somebody say "hot fire"?

2500 degrees good enough?

TW

C-H,

i would subscribe to that.

i think the majority of fixtures sold here are crap. i won't sell them because i refuse to back them up.

i'll install them usually cursing the powers that be whom let them market here.

That's why in Austria we just have a hook and 2 (or 3) wires hanging out of the ceiling. If the hook is solid enough and driven deep into a ceiling joist you may as well hang 200 lbs. Connections are made with strip connectors hanging in mid-air, then hook and connectors are hidden by a cup shaped cover. (Pendant fixtures) Other fixtures are just anchored to the ceiling, regardless of what it is made of (anchors into drywall, screws into plaster lathes, or if lucky joists,...)

A couple of weeks ago I got a GE 200A 3P main breaker.
Included were "mouting instructions"(their misspell, not mine).
"Torque to at least 90 inlbs.", with a picture (suggested method) of a crescent wrench turning a screwdriver (hopefully, square shank).
How does one calibrate the crescent wrench??

Is nothing sacred?

Lessee... You could leave the jaw of the crecent wrench loose enough to slip at 90 in/lbs...



In reality, I have to use a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter, a 1/4" socket, and put a flat tip in the end, hold it all together and use it with my torque-wrench...

But, then again, I don't have a torque-crecent-wrench!!



So, how do these examples tie in with 110.3(B)? Are we violating code by exercising good judgement?

Damned if I do, damned if I don't...



[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 11-19-2002).]

Trumpy: "The quality of language in these instructions, vary from confusing to down right un-intelligible, depending on who translated it from Spanish or French or whatever language."

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I'm a fluent Spanish reader/writer/speaker and so-so in French. I tried reading the Spanish translation of these instructions and the grammatical errors were atrocious. No wonder you can't understand them!!!!

"Fijar el correa" should be "Fijar LA correa" (femenine).

Other such errors abound.

I believe the instructions are translated from Chinese by people who are doing it on a rush job.

In most cases it is safe to ignore the instructions and proceed with the most logical and safest way possible.

In Austria we say that those instructions are obviously translated from japanese or chinese to traditional thai, then to Suomi, to English, mandarin, italian, back to english and then to German, mostly involving computers.

"errors are human, but if one wants to make real shit he still needs a computer..."
quote from a radio moderator some years ago.

Personally I hate reading instructions, I just look at the pretty pictures.

which , i beleive, are not a part of the listing.......

Texas_Ranger,

You forgot Swahili and Gaelic!



Steve, so am I incorrect in assuming that the UL listing is subject to installation according to the manufacturer's instructions?

Where do we draw the line?



(Obviously, the line is somewhere above this garbage!)

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 11-20-2002).]

Virgil,
from 110.3(B) here, i believe that only the instrcutions included in the listing and labeling apply....

(B) Installation and Use. Listed or labeled equipment shall be installed and used in accordance with any instructions included in the listing or labeling.

So, do we need to carry around a copy of the White Book as well?
Crap, I better start looking around for a "literature trailer" to drag around behind the truck. The briefcase is already stuffed!

sparky66wv,
Hang it your own way, those instructions are for Mr DIY.

Do any of you really think the guy who produced the instruction sheet ever hung a light fixture???

Ed

Electric-Ed:

Frequently Mr. DIY sometimes hangs up these damned close-to-the-ceiling enclosed fixtures using 18-AWG (or .75 mm) ZIP CORD from the lampholder into the box...and then after loosing the wirenuts that came with the fixture, tapes up the splices with DUCT TAPE or even worse...sello-tape (in my previous apartment someone did this to a dimmer switch)!!!!!

Of course they then pop two 100-watt bulbs into a fixture rated for two 60s.

ARGHHHHHHH.

Sorry guys....I really get pissed at this sort of thing because as an apartment dweller I've had to fix the previous tenants' mistakes...

I recently installed a TV Bracket, to fix a TV to the wall, at a customers house, in their bedroom as it was, fixing the wallmount
part to the wall, was the easiest bit, I then had to de-cipher the instructions(in Chinese)as how to put the rest of the bracket together, it took me an hour and a half, to put it together, no pictures, nothing.
Why do we import such crap!.

NAFTA.....

[This message has been edited by sparky (edited 11-21-2002).]

SAFTA???
My directions came from Brazil

One of my favorites is on a Honeywell thermostat(T8400B1018). The instructions for removing the thermostat from the backplate are written on the back of the backplate. Try reading that after its been mounted to the wall!! Lotsa luck

Glenn