DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi,

I am new to the group and definitely a DIY amateur.

I am wanting to convert a old metal gas lamp (pictured) to electric safely.

I understand, obviously that the lamp needs to be correctly earthed. I have ordered a B22 metal bulb holder which i'll somehow affix to the top hole of the lamp, which the lamp-holder kit comes with 3 core flex.
I presume that i need to somehow solder, or affix, a separate earthing wire from the base (or somewhere suitable) of the lamp to the earthing point within the lamp holder? Do i need to then test it assure ground connectivity? How do i do that? considering the pictures is there anything else to consider for safety pur[quote][/quote]poses?

Regards - paulmaso

That style of lamp relies on the illumination source being central to the parabolic reflector, that will be an impossible task for the average DIY person, but assuming you were able to do something, you would then have the danger of an exposed non-protected lamp.
Now you know why the lamp was either free or cheap. Sorry it is not what you wanted to hear.

The PAT testing machine normally uses 25 amp to test the continuity of the earth, so if the earth is likely to fail, it will fail with the 25 amp used with the PAT tester, there are tester which only use 250 mA for IT stuff, but even that is well above what a normal multi meter uses.

So big question is what test equipment do you have.