I inherited this neat looking old Art Deco (?) pole lamp, but there's something strange about it. I started getting shocked when I touched the pole. When I took it apart to see what the problem was, I discovered something strange. Instead of a cord running up the pole to the light fixture, this lamp has the electrical connections incorporated into the pole. Each of the screw-together components has electrified plates that transfer the current between the parts when they are screwed together. The connections are (were) "isolated," with a washer made from some sort of non-conductive (phenolic) material separating the electrical components. This material is, apparently, breaking down, causing short circuits and shocking the user. It is something I've never seen before and hope to never see again.

This lamp was dangerous, but too neat to throw away. With the screw-together parts, there really wasn't any way to drill a hole big enough to pass a cord up through the pole. There are tiny (1/8-inch) holes through the threaded fittings, too small for regular lamp cord, but large enough for a couple of 20-gauge wires to supply enough current for LED lighting.

The power supply for the LED lights is hidden in the lamp base. There was only the question of what type of LED component to use as a replacement for the incandescent light fixture. I decided that a strip of LED lighting tape wrapped around something would be the easiest solution.

Supplies

This retrofit required:

Drill and 1/8-inch drill bit

20-gauge wires (two lengths about six feet long)

Double sided foam tape (heavy duty)

Light switch

LED Tape light

Plastic Ketchup squeeze bottle

Tomato paste can

Tin snips

Vinyl tape

Soldering setup

Extension cord

Gorilla Tape

Step 1: String Wires Through Tiny Holes

While disassembling the lamp parts, I found that each of the pole parts had a single copper wire running from end to end, terminating in tiny little sockets, mounted to washers that were part of the screw-together connections. By drilling through these washers, I was able to create a small passage from top to bottom of the lamp, with many tiny holes that I'd need to pass wires through. The threaded connections are an intricate piece of work, inside the threaded metal piece, is some sort of phenolic insulating washer, separating the connection for the central copper wire from the other connection, which that is really just a copper washer that presses against another copper washer when the parts are screwed together. Drilling a larger hole would have made the threaded connection very thin, and would have risked the pole snapping easily. My approach was to do the least amount of damage possible, so I drilled an eighth-inch hole through the phenolic washer, just big enough to pass the wires through.

With the top and bottom of each pole section drilled through, it was time to thread the wires. The holes are barely large enough for the wires to fit through, and with a string tied around them, they are an even tighter fit. The solution was using a vacuum cleaner to suck a thread through the tiny holes. With the thread in place it was no problem pulling a larger string, and then the wires, through the pole sections.

Step 2: Make the "light Bulb"

I knew that I wanted to wrap LED tape around something to make the light, and I spent the better part of a morning digging through my junk to find something that would work. The answer was (as usual) in the kitchen. A plastic squeeze bottle (the kind they use for ketchup) made a good foundation for wrapping the LED tape, and fitted nicely under the glass diffuser. I started wrapping from the end of the LED tape that has the barrel connector attached, and cut off the extra few feet of the LED tape at the other end. There isn't any more to the "bulb" than that. Just be sure to snip the LED tape at a marked location.

Now, how to attach the squeeze bottle to the lamp. A tomato paste can fit snugly inside the bell-shaped lamp housing. The end of the can is cut out to fit over the threaded top of the squeeze bottle, and the cap with the squirt nozzle screws on to hold the can tightly to the squeeze bottle. The other end of the tomato sauce can needed to be cut down by an inch or so, and a slot cut in the side of the can leaves room for the wires. A few wraps of Vinyl tape to keep the LED components isolated and protect the wiring from sharp edges, and the "light bulb" is done. (My apologies for not getting more photos.)

Step 3: Mounting the Switch

I really tried to make as few changes as possible to the old pole lamp. The existing hole for the pull-chain switch happened to fit the shaft of this dimmer switch, though I had to remove the plastic housing from the switch to fit it inside the bell housing. I wrapped all the electrical switch components in vinyl tape, and secured the switch knob shaft (through the former pull-chain hole) with the small nut that I found in my junk collection.

This switch came with a pair of barrel connectors (5.5mm x 2.1mm). The female connector is attached to the top of the wires that are threaded through the lamp pole. This connector matches the connector coming into the dimmer switch. The other connector is screwed onto the other end of the wires, at the bottom of the lamp, and connects to the barrel connector on the end of the wire from the power supply block. The extra length of wire from the power supply is just coiled and stuck to the inside of the lamp base with gorilla tape.

So, we have attached barrel connectors to each end of the wires threaded through the lamp, essentially making a low-voltage extension cord between the power supply and the LED tape. Vinyl tape is wrapped around any exposed wire connections, and all the parts are stuffed neatly into the bell-shaped lamp housing.

Step 4: Mount the Power Supply

The power block for the LED tape fits nicely inside the base of the lamp. It is held in place with heavy duty double-stick tape.

The power block is meant to plug directly into an outlet. I'm using an extension cord for the lamp cord, and I cut the outlet end off and spliced the wires back together after passing the wire through the existing cord hole in the base of the lamp. Sorry for not getting better pictures before adding gorilla tape. The lamp retrofit is complete.

I have been hauling this non-working lamp around for many years, and thanks to the advances in LED technology, I am now able to put this old lamp back to use. There is a lesson in there somewhere.