Hi there,
I have a desk lamp I looking to make that is made out of metal. I am stuffing a dimmer switch into the unit. The one snag is I notice there is a ground wire on the dimmer switch box. Does this unit need to be grounded or can I remove that wire? The box internals will be taped and all connections will be capped and taped.

Thank you,
motos

 

Your guess is as good as mine and probably better since you know what you are dealing with and I don't have a clue because you haven't provided any manufacturer's information or even pictures. My first thought though is that you may need to stuff a ground wire in there too.

 

If you were to look at a typical table lamp you'll notice that both the positive and negative wires are completely insulated and isolated from the body of the lamp. Putting a dimmer on it should not change anything. However,if you're using one of those resistive touch lamps, then that's a different story that I cannot comment on.

 

Apologies, I thought it was a simple enough question. It's a basic lamp kit that is going inside a metal tube. Two wires all the way to a lamp socket.

In between those two connections I want to add a generic wall light rotary dimmer switch. Inside the rotary dimmer kit there is a black (hot) to connect to the hot wire on the light kit cord and an outbound red wire to go to the lamp. There is also a green grounding wire coming from the rotary switch. Would I need to ground this if all the connections will be in the rotary switch housing or capped and taped?

View image: wiring
Let me know if anything is unclear

 

Not a touch lamp or anything but it spooked me seeing a ground wire ont he dimmer box. I am just making sure I am not going to zap myself or others when I plug it in. I am a novice electrician (at best)

 

If you use a regular wall dimmer then it must be insulated from the metal lamp unless you use a three wire power cord with a ground pin.

Dimmers that are used inside of lamps are completely insulated from the lamp. A regular wall type dimmer has a metal mounting plate/heat sink that can't touch the metal lamp.

 

Any advice for insulating it. Will a good amount of electrical tape on the metal mounting plate be enough?

Thank you

 

Depending on the wattage of the lamp..... that plate will get warm and make a mess of black tape.

Maybe mounting it inside the lamp with plastic screws. Without seeing the lamp it's tough to make recommendations.

 

Post withdrawn.

.

 

I am just going to say it think what you are trying to do is a bad idea.

 

Much better said then I did in the post I withdrew.

 

A why would be nice.


It's a 40 watt bulb that will be in the lamp. I have attached a diagram of what I am working with to show you what will touch what. It will be mounted going into a t-section of metal
View image: diagram

 

Words like tape, and stuffing something in make me question your skill level at electrical. No tape is needed if the correct connector is used. Parts should be chosen that are designed for the purpose and fit within the space available.

Here are two examples of the type of dimmer you should be using:

Westek 00182 - Small Manual Dimmer for 200 watt Halogen (6077B) at eLightBulbs.com

Built-In Dimmer Control For Lamp & Fixture 400W | MyLampParts

Or if not enough room inside an inline dimmer such as:

Lutron LC-300NLH-WH Dimmer Switch, 300W Plug-in Attache Lamp Dimmer - White | Westside Wholesale

 

I've already admitted to my novice(at best) skill level in electrical work. The reason I used stuffing was because I was turning a diameter (on the lathe) for a snug press fit of the dimmer unit, with some epoxy for rigidity.

I figured if you could insulate the metal plate from the rest of the lamp it would be fine but knowing now that there are specifc lamp dimmer parts that are fully insulated I think I will go that route. I thank you for your time and patience!

 

And ray. Thank you for the example parts. I am going to be going with the rotary dials because I am going to attach the rod to a gate valve (like on a water spigot or something like this: http://www.parkerhydraulics.co.uk/wp...Gate-Valve.jpg)


So the rotary's will work the best. Thank you again.

 

The dimmer needs air around it to radiate excess heat.

 

The wall dimmer or the ones ray was posting about? If it is the one ray was linking there will be about an 1/4 inch on two sides of it and 10 inches in either direction from that to radiate. Do you think that would be enough space on the tiny westek that ray posted.

 

Hi Guys,
Im a IGCSE student making a lamp for my project with a dimmer switch and I was interested in this post.I was just wondering if I could get advice on how to make it, what materials to use and how to actually make the dimmer switch for a lamp.