ATOT Electricians & Handypeople

[Mears]

Ok, the first person to guess what this connector is, wins a free thank you.

http://www.msu.edu/~joshd/connect2.jpg
http://www.msu.edu/~joshd/connect1.jpg

The house I just bought has some in-ceiling lights above the bed in the master bedroom. They aren't currently working, and I believe it is due to this mystery connector that lives just above them in some built-in shelving. There is a standard wall outlet in the same cubby hole of this connector. I can't track exactly where the wire goes as I only have access to what little bit of it isn't plastered into the built-ins.

I've been to radio shacks, home depots, lowes, aces, etc and nobody has had a friggin' clue what this thing is.

EDIT: In case the pictures aren't clear, it has a spade-like male connector and a closely spaced male pin connector.

EDIT 2:

Ok, here is a picture of the lights:
http://www.msu.edu/~joshd/lights.jpg

The wire and connector in question are located in the center cubby hole. Here is a picture of the inside of the cubby:
http://www.msu.edu/~joshd/cubby.jpg

 

[bobsmith1492]

Proprietary power connector for the fixturing? I.E.: power plug -> fixture -> multiple female plugs that mate with that -> that plug -> individual lights

That way you can move lights around individually more easily. Of course, I have no idea what the rest of the system looks like, but that would be my first guess without knowing anything at all.

 

[JRock]

What are they plugged in to? Standard 3-prong outlets? Looks like a 3-prong, hot and ground minus the neutral... kinda odd... then again I'm 18 sammy summer ales in the hole so you could tell me it USB 3.0 and I might believe you...

 

[Leros]

cut the plug off and put on your own connector

 

[Greenman]

Is this house in the USA? If it is, check the voltage on the lights, they could be low voltage fixtures and the ends you have plug into the transformer, which appears to be missing.

 

[Mears]

I just added a couple more pics to the original post.

 

[Mears]

Originally posted by: Greenman
Is this house in the USA? If it is, check the voltage on the lights, they could be low voltage fixtures and the ends you have plug into the transformer, which appears to be missing.

How can I tell? They just take standard 10 watt (per the warning) halogen bulbs. Other than the recommended wattage, I couldn't find any other labels.

 

[JRock]

Originally posted by: Leros
cut the plug off and put on your own connector

Or at least see it it's standard wiring... Red, Black and Green...

 

[Mears]

Originally posted by: JRock

Originally posted by: Leros
cut the plug off and put on your own connector

Or at least see it it's standard wiring... Red, Black and Green...

How can I do that without cutting the insulation?

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

just replace the lights

 

[doze]

stick the mystery connector in the socket and let us know what happens

 

[Pepsi90919]

you are probably missing an adaptor of some kind.

 

[KK]

would this work?

 

[mobobuff]

Proprietary romex connector for recessed lighting. I'm guessing the manufacturer designed the lights to be able to connect into a splitter, like <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.morehome.com/index.cfm?page=display<img src=---i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif--- border=---0--->roduct&productID=K10244&manufacturer=Kichler&finish=White&CS_010
16714822&source=shopping&srccode=cii_13736960&cpncode=10-42068506-2">this one</a>, but also included standard outlet adapters for an installation like yours. Unless those lights NEVER worked, then whoever did the installation chose the wrong lights / wrong application

You're either missing adapters or you need to call an electrician.

 

[mobobuff]

For some reason my link didn't work, and it won't let me edit that post....

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.morehome.com/index.cfm?page=display<img src=---i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif--- border=---0--->roduct&productID=K10244&manufacturer=Kichler&finish=White&CS_010
16714822&source=shopping&srccode=cii_13736960&cpncode=10-42068586-2">Let me try again...</a>

And if that didn't work...

 

[mobobuff]

Ugh! Fine! I'll host the image myself!

 

[danzigrules]

how big are the lights?

They look like these

 

[rockyct]

Originally posted by: KK
would this work?

That's a travel adapter. This is (I'm assuming) in the US, so they won't help.

Like someone said above, cut off the end and put on a new connector. Look like an SPT-1 or 2 vampire plug may work because that looks like simple lamp wire. Something like this would work:

http://www.actionlighting.com/item-detail.asp?ID=1400&MainCategory=&Sub=

Home depot and the like should have them. All you have to do is cut off the old plug, place the wire in a guide channel, and slide on the cap.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Like others has said, "cut it off & install a standard plug".

I hope that the wiring is screw down tight because it doesn't look like a standard wiring install.

Open up the wall & find where it lead to (look like it is splice to the receptacle at is next to it).

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: rockyct

Originally posted by: KK
would this work?

That's a travel adapter. This is (I'm assuming) in the US, so they won't help.

Like someone said above, cut off the end and put on a new connector. Look like an SPT-1 or 2 vampire plug may work because that looks like simple lamp wire. Something like this would work:

http://www.actionlighting.com/item-detail.asp?ID=1400&MainCategory=&Sub=

Home depot and the like should have them. All you have to do is cut off the old plug, place the wire in a guide channel, and slide on the cap.

Unless it needs to be plugged into a transformer.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: rockyct

Originally posted by: KK
would this work?

That's a travel adapter. This is (I'm assuming) in the US, so they won't help.

Like someone said above, cut off the end and put on a new connector. Look like an SPT-1 or 2 vampire plug may work because that looks like simple lamp wire. Something like this would work:

http://www.actionlighting.com/item-detail.asp?ID=1400&MainCategory=&Sub=

Home depot and the like should have them. All you have to do is cut off the old plug, place the wire in a guide channel, and slide on the cap.

Look at the image, it looks like it splits apart and has a standard US plug. I dunno. Yeah, iit'd be easier to just splice in a regular plug, granted that the lights are supposed to take 110 VAC, and not some DC voltage.

 

[GPett]

I agree with the above poster that said to replace the light fixtures. Why leave foriegn made fixtures with different standards in a house? Even if you do get them to work the next home owners will go through the same "WTF"?

 

[silverpig]

I have something exactly like that.

I bought a little halogen wall light from IKEA years ago. The cord comes from the light and ends in a connector like that. The connector then fits into an adapter box that you plug into the wall there. It looks basically like your standard transformer cube used to convert your 120VAC into whatever the appliance uses.

In short: don't just cut it off and attach a new connector.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: GPett
I agree with the above poster that said to replace the light fixtures. Why leave foriegn made fixtures with different standards in a house? Even if you do get them to work the next home owners will go through the same "WTF"?

It's a standard transformer though. Your fluorescent lights don't run off of 60 Hz 120VAC... there's circuitry in them to convert them to a higher frequency and different voltage. That's what that connector is for, to plug into the transformer brick.

 

[rockyct]

Originally posted by: KK

Look at the image, it looks like it splits apart and has a standard US plug. I dunno. Yeah, iit'd be easier to just splice in a regular plug, granted that the lights are supposed to take 110 VAC, and not some DC voltage.

Hmm, yeah, you're right. It's probably something like 12-24 V DC. I wonder if that white tag has anything useful on it.

At this point, I would try to figure out the voltage/current those lights draw. Take a bulb out and check the ratings. You then would have to figure out if those bulbs are wired in parallel or series. Remove all the bulbs and short out the plug with some alluminum foil or something. Get a multi meter or a continuity tester and touch the leads to the two contacts inside the socket. The resistance of the multimeter will then either be very high (open) or very low (short). If it's a short the bulbs are in probably in parallel(check the others to confirm though) and the voltage is what is labeled on the bulb. If its very high, you need to do some more testing.

Short out the contacts in a different light socket and test for continuity again. If it's a closed circuit, the voltage is 2Xbulb voltage. If it's still an open circuit, short out two light sockets and test again. Keep doing this until the multi meter shows a short. So, now the voltage you need for a transformer will be this:

1 bulb (multimeter shows short) = bulb voltage
1 bulb (multimeter shows short) + 1 bulb (contacts shorted) = 2Xbulb voltage
1 bulb (multimeter shows short) + 2 bulbs (contacts shorted) = 3Xbulb voltage
etc

Now, you need to get an amperage rating for your transformer, but I'll stop here and see what you and others have to say.

Of course, that wiring doesn't seem up to code, so eventually it should be replaced.