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Younique One · Jun 24, 2007, 07:21 PM

OK... another project! I have a brand new, gold finished (colored) chandelier. I want to spray paint it white and hang it in my entry way. I already have a white light fixture hanging there from a two story ceiling. The old fixture is hanging from a white electric cord and white chain. My home is 4 years old so it has new wiring.

Question:
Is it possible to cut the old light fixture from the white cord and chain and use a few inches of the gold colored electric cord that is attached to the new chandelier and spice the two together? I could always tape the few inches of gold wire with white electrical tape so the color would tie into the old white cord. This would save me from having to rewire the chandelier with a white cord after it is painted. It would also save me from having to hard wire it into the 2 story ceiling. Both cords, old and new, are the ones that come with standard light fixtures. They are 2 in 1, 2 sets of multiple stranded wires bonded into one cord. What do you think? Thank you!

tkrussell · Jun 25, 2007, 02:49 AM

Sure, you can use a crimp connector (AKA solderless connector) called a butt splice. Stagger the butt splices so the profile is as small as possible. You will need a special crimp tool to squeeze the crimp connector,there are inexpensive tools found at hardware stores many times in a kit with various crimp connectors. If there is a bare ground wire, be sure to extend that also. The new fixture should have one long enough to allow it to remain without a splice.

Clough · Jun 25, 2007, 03:13 AM

Another thing that you might want to consider, is roughening up the gold finished chandelier with some 150 grit sandpaper, or 000 steel wool first. Apply a spray paint primer. And then apply your finish coats of paint. I would apply at least two coats of the finish paint.

Roughening the surface up a bit and then applying the primer is to ensure that the finish coats of paint will stick.

I wouldn't want to see you cleaning the chandelier at some point in the future and finding out the paint was coming off because of only a cleaning and not preparing the surface properly.