Should I earth my wooden wall lights?

[DIYNotIan]

Hi all

I've got a couple of wooden wall lights... I've just had them off the wall and I see that they are not earthed.

There is an earth on the lights. And there is an earth on the mains feed. So I'm presuming that it would be a good idea to connect them. But at the same time I'm wondering why they weren't connected before.

So in case I'm missing anything, I thought I'd best check with you before guys...

Cheers

 

[EFLImpudence]

If there is an earth terminal or earth wire on the light then it must be earthed.

If it is not earted then it was because of someone's negligence.


I doubt that the light is wooden.

 

[DIYNotIan]

Ok, thanks.

The bulb holder is metal. The rest is definitely wood.... If there's no possible harm in earthing - or if indeed it should be earthed - then earthed it shall be!

 

[DIYNotIan]

Sorry, when I said bulb holder I meant the actual but the bayonet fitting locks into. From what I can tell, the bit surrounding that is plastic...

 

[EFLImpudence]

But you said there is an earth on the lights. I thought you meant an attached wire or a screw terminal.

If it is just a pendant bulb holder fixed to wood there is probably nowhere to attach an earth wire and no metal to touch.

 

[DIYNotIan]

I'll take a photo... Give me 5

 

[DIYNotIan]

Ok, here we be:

 

[EFLImpudence]

Well, it looks like someone has connected that 'earth' wire to the bracket (which is just being used as a washer) because they thought they should.
I doubt it is connected by anything metal to the lampholder.

Either way, you may as well connect the green/yellow to the supply green/yellow.
It won't do any harm.

 

[DIYNotIan]

Ok, great - that's what I'll do then.

Thanks for all the help

 

[blup]

The hole in the bottom of the wooden cannot readily be reached, but it would be probably be wise to earth it as advised because a child - for example - could poke a piece of wire up it and make contact with the metal parts under conditions where they have become faulty?

Blup

 

[DIYNotIan]

Well, they do say the world is over populated...

 

[crystal ball]

Thats quite a series of events, a very dextrous child finds a length of stiff wire and manages to poke it through a small hole during fault conditions

 

[DIYNotIan]

Managing to get into my house would be a good start...

 

[crystal ball]

Ah a lock picking dextrous child

 

[JohnW2]

The hole in the bottom of the wooden cannot readily be reached, but it would be probably be wise to earth it as advised because a child - for example - could poke a piece of wire up it and make contact with the metal parts under conditions where they have become faulty?

If they were that adventurous and determined to do themselves harm, rather than wait (probably for a few lifetimes!) until the "metal parts became live because of a fault", they would probably be better advised to remove the bulb/lamp and plug their fingers into the holder (all that, of course, assuming that it was switched on)

Kind Regards, John