I am rewiring an old electrical hurricane lamp that has a small bulb in the bottom part and a regular bulb in the top. The appliance has 3 connector poles (one copper and two silver). What wires go where? There are two wires, one connected to the outlet and one from the small bult in the bottom of the lamp.

egp

KeepItSimpleStupid

Confused. I got the two lamps and the power cord part.

I have no idea what a "small bult in the bottom of the lamp" is.

Is "3 connector poles" mean 3 terminals? Possibly a common and one terminal to one lamp and the 2nd terminal to the other lamp?

Does the lamp have an outlet on it?

Where is the 3-way switch? Does it have one?

glenpaden

The hurricane lamp has two large glass globes one on top of the other. The switch is in the middle. The bottom globe has a small bulb like you would find in a nightlight. This has a wire to the switch. Then there is a large bulb in the top globe. We have a second wire from the outlet. So 2 two strand wires and 3 terminals. ??????

labman

Lets start with the plug. It should have one blade on it that is wider for the neutral. You want to connect that wire to outside of both bulb sockets, newer ones have a silver plated screw. The other, with the narrow blade is the hot. Run it to the copper screw at the switch. Then run wires from the 2 silver screws to the brass screws of the bulb socket.

The switch should switch power from the copper screw first to one silver one, and then the other. Most switches have a fourth position that connects both screws to light both bulbs.

If you don't have the wider and narrower blades, don't worry about it. It will still work, but if you change bulbs with the power on, the outside bulb base could be hot.