ok to leave chandelier third wire unconnected?

gonzales9

Hi,

I'm replacing a single-bulb ceiling fixture with a chandelier with five 40-watt type B bulbs. We live in a rustic A-frame, and the old fixture was simply screwed into the ceiling/upstairs floorboards, with a hot and neutral wire running along a ceiling beam, down a wall beam, to a switch. The new chandelier has a third wire which is supposed to be attached to the grounding screw in the electrical box/mounting strap in the ceiling--but we have no electical box/mounting strap there. Is it okay not to connect the grounding wire of the chandelier? Should I connect the grounding wire to the neutral wire? I'd appreciate any advice you may have.

Thanks!

Chris

K2eoj

I think what you have is totally non-complying with the code so it would be hard to advise you unless you were interested in bringing it up to code. Maybe some of the other guys will be along with some different advice. HS.

Speedy Petey

You'd be best served to install some sort of box to hang the chandelier. In fact you MUST do this to be legal and safe.
I've seen way too many of these in my day and it always amazes me that anyone would install a fixture this way.
Does the cable have a ground?

__________________
Sometimes I feel like if I answer any more questions it is like someone trying to climb over a fence to jump off a bridge and me giving them a boost.

gonzales9

Hi Speedy Petey,

Thanks for your reply. The existing fixture did not have a ground. Just a sixty watt bulb in a hanging-lantern fixture, and hot and neutral wires running to a switch. I'm persuaded by the advice you and others give here, that we should install an electrical box with a proper mounting strap and ground. The challenge will be to find an electrical box that will look right with our ceiling. The ceiling boards are the same as the upstairs floorboards, so there's no room to recess the electrical box. Any suggestions where I might find a box that would look good with the hand-hewn beams and ceiling boards? Thanks again for your advice.


Chris

Speedy Petey

How about a round Wiremold box painted to match either the wood color or the fixture color. This way it will look like part of the fixture as opposed to just a box.
You can come into the back of the WM box with an NM connector.

__________________
Sometimes I feel like if I answer any more questions it is like someone trying to climb over a fence to jump off a bridge and me giving them a boost.

mdshunk

I second that suggestion. Round Wiremold boxes are available in many diameters at the electrical supply house. I'm certain that you'll be able to get one the same diameter as the canopy of the chandelier. This way, to the untrained eye, the box will not be at all notciable. Especially if you paint it to match the wood or the fixture, as Speedy suggests. The other option is to recess a 1/2" deep "pancake box" into the beam if the beam is decorative. If the beam is structural, don't do that.