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I have built a light that I am going to screw to the wall. The light's cord was originally a male plug at the end that I cut off. See below.

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I have wiring access from a junction box in the wall. The wires are 12 gauge wires and I'm wondering if it's safe and proper to pigtail the cord's black and white to the wall's 12 gauge black and white, cap, and attach the light to the wall.

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UPDATE:

Here is the light I ended up hard wiring. The piping is all metal and the light bulb receptacle is plastic.

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  • Is the light fixture constructed from metal or plastic? Sep 12, 2015 at 23:58
  • Is there a way for air to get in to the bottle? If air can't get in, you might have problems with overheating bulbs.
    – Tester101
    Sep 15, 2015 at 13:43
  • I punctured about 6 to 8 holes with a large nail in the lid. Should that suffice?
    – Chris
    Sep 15, 2015 at 13:44

2 Answers 2

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There is no way to determine with certainty whether it is safe and proper.

Commercial fixtures that are UL approved are inspected and tested to ensure safe, and they are evaluated against the Code to determine proper.

A home brewed fixture may be fine, and may even be far beyond the minimum standards for safe, but without an objective review, there is no way to determine.

Generally fixtures need to be affixed to the box using the built in attachment points, and wires need to be contained within the box or within the fixture itself (that has been evaluated to ensure safety). There also needs to be no way that live wires are accessible or that exposed metal parts are energized.

In general, the Code does not permit a fixture to be used in a manner other than that for which it was designed. By changing the electrical connection mechanism, you are not using it in the manner for which it was designed. So you are probably outside Code.

That does not mean it will not work, or that it is not safe, only that no one can give you assurance from a distance that it is safe and proper.

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The preferred way to connect a non-code-approved light fixture to house wiring is to install an outlet and plug it into that. But realistically folks are constantly installing old chandeliers and so on by hard-wiring them, so you'll be in good company if you do do.

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