Thread: lamp components in Australia

Hartley Williams in Bris are lead lighting people. They sell components. Have a look. Damo.

I make lamps all the time I only use top quality clipsal components (electrical wholesalers) I have yet to see a impoted lamp kit that I would put my name on

There are plenty of sources for standard lamp fittings here in Oz, but personally I'd stick to either Clipsal or HPM brands... (It helps to think of them as Telstra & Optus, while most of t'others are imports or bit-players... such as Orange, iiNet, etc. )

eg. Bunnings stocks a HPM brand switched lampholder for $11(ish). I'm fairly sure they also stock the required 240VAC 2-core flex and power plugs.

(I haven't seen them in the Bunnings list, but HPM also make unswitched & side-entry lampholders as well, if you want to put the switch inline in the flex or cannot run the flex thru the stand or...

As China also pointed out; the cheapest places to buy this sort of thing tend to be Electrical Wholesalers.

Time to dig out the Yellow Pages?

Just remember the electrical licensing laws in Australia especially if you are selling them.
They have to be tagged by a licenced Electrician.
At 12 years old I used to drill a hole in bottles and make lamps doing my own wiring, but I was not in Australia then.
Regards

Originally Posted by A Duke

Just remember the electrical licensing laws in Australia especially if you are selling them.
They have to be tagged by a licenced Electrician.
At 12 years old I used to drill a hole in bottles and make lamps doing my own wiring, but I was not in Australia then.
Regards

In terms of the theoretical difficulty of doing something like this, is it much the same as replacing a household lighting fixture with a new one (disconnect wires, put new stuff in place, re-connect wires to the appropriately marked holes)?

And in Australia is it legal to make your own and then have it inspected, tested and tagged by a licenced test & tag person (or full blown electrician perhaps)? This seems preferable and cheaper than just making a timber lamp frame and then making an electrician actually do the work of fitting all the parts and cabling.

Originally Posted by bassmansimon

In terms of the theoretical difficulty of doing something like this, is it much the same as replacing a household lighting fixture with a new one (disconnect wires, put new stuff in place, re-connect wires to the appropriately marked holes)?

And in Australia is it legal to make your own and then have it inspected, tested and tagged by a licenced test & tag person (or full blown electrician perhaps)? This seems preferable and cheaper than just making a timber lamp frame and then making an electrician actually do the work of fitting all the parts and cabling.

Yes it is legal to have it tagged and some firms will do it at a price (used to be $5 probably gone up)

Funny you should chose replacing a light fitting, I have seen more people land on their bum doing that than anything else. Usually someone who is used to doing it in an other country, they think you just have to switch the light off but here the active (live in UK, Hot in USA) has a looping terminal on the fitting and you have to isolate the whole circuit.
This also courses confusion with the markings AU A, N, L, E, for Active, Neutral, Loop and Earth others L, N for Live and Neutral, as most don't loop the Active (Live) and Earth at each fitting as is done here.
Electrical work is not hard you just have to know what you are doing so you don't get bitten or electrocute someone else, that is why the powers that be insist on licences.
Regards

Thanks Hugh.
I'll hit up my local electrical wholesaler (I'm a member due to my previous work as a contractor and bought heaps of CAT5 cable) for lamp components, and then get to (wood)work, and will then sort out someone to test and tag my work when done. I love the idea of installing a custom timber switch in line in the cord, but this may present some challenges. If I don't report back here with results within six months, someone please send my wife some flowers

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Originally Posted by bassmansimon

Thanks Hugh.
I'll hit up my local electrical wholesaler (I'm a member due to my previous work as a contractor and bought heaps of CAT5 cable) for lamp components, and then get to (wood)work, and will then sort out someone to test and tag my work when done. I love the idea of installing a custom timber switch in line in the cord, but this may present some challenges. If I don't report back here with results within six months, someone please send my wife some flowers

A nice in line plastic switch utilising a normal light switch is available, you could make a wooden sheath covering the whole thing, (except the button) it could look good without compromising any safety regs.
Regards