A flea-market find or your grandparents' floor lamp: the body is still good, but the cable is brittle, cracked or just plain ugly. Rewiring an old light is almost always worth it – a new fabric cable costs a few euros per metre, and the work is manageable, as long as the light runs on a plug and isn't hard-wired to the ceiling.
First: pull the plug, take the bulb out
Before any work, pull the plug out of the socket – don't just flick the switch. Unscrew the bulb so the lamp holder is freely accessible. For lights that are hard-wired to the ceiling wiring (no plug, but a direct connection), the job belongs to a qualified electrician, because you'd be working on the fixed house installation. With anything that runs on a plug – table, floor and plug-in pendant lights – you can do it yourself as a non-professional, as long as you work carefully.
Remove the old cable and check the lamp holder
Disconnect the old cable at the lamp holder and the plug (usually screw terminals, less often a terminal block in the base housing) and pull it out completely. Now check the lamp holder itself: is the terminal screw tight, is the thread inside undamaged, is there no smell of scorching? Porous or cracked lamp holders made of old Bakelite should be replaced, not reused – a replacement costs 4 to 12 euros, a lamp holder fire a great deal more. What sets the different lamp holder types apart and what to look for when buying is covered in Lamp holders explained. If the housing has a strain relief or cable grommet, check it for damage and replace it too if needed.
Choosing a new cable: length, cross-section, colour
For table lamps and floor lamps, a cross-section of 2x0.75 mm² is usually enough or, for lights with a metal housing and an earth connection, 3x0.75 mm². The length is based on the route through the housing plus the free cable length you want to the socket – 1.5 to 2 m is typical for table lamps, 2 to 2.5 m for floor lamps. In terms of colour, the new cable often follows the material of the old light: a natural linen or cotton cable goes with brass and wood, a viscose cable in black or burgundy with Art Deco-style Bakelite and porcelain lamp holders. The full range is under Fabric cable, cut to length by the metre.
Protective earth: yes or no?
Whether you need a 2-core or 3-core cable depends on the housing material. Lights with a housing made entirely of plastic, wood or fabric (protection class II) don't need an earth wire; 2x0.75 is enough here. As soon as there are touchable metal parts that could come into contact with live voltage in the event of a fault – a metal base, metal lamp holder, metal shade in contact with the lamp holder – you need 3x0.75 with the PE (green-yellow) connected and fixed to an earth screw in the housing or on the lamp holder itself. Many old lights from the 1950s to the 1970s were originally supplied with 2-core cable, even though by today's standard they'd need an earth wire – rewiring is a good moment to put that right. Details on the 2x0.75 or 3x0.75 question are in the article 2x0.75 or 3x0.75.
Stripping and connecting
Strip about 5 to 8 cm of the outer sheath from the new cable and strip each core by 8 to 10 mm (wire strippers, not a knife blade – it too easily cuts individual strands). With fine-stranded fabric cables, ferrules are worth it so that no single strand sticks out when you tighten the screw and causes a short circuit to the neighbouring terminal. The article Stripping fabric cable shows the details. At the lamp holder: L (live) to the terminal of the centre contact, N to the terminal connected to the thread, PE (with three-core cable) to the earth screw. At the plug, observe the polarity accordingly if it isn't symmetrical. Tighten the cable grip in the housing and in the plug before reassembling the light.
Function test
Screw in the bulb, plug in, switch on. If it lights up straight away without flickering, the job's done. If the fuse in the fuse box trips, pull the plug immediately and check the wiring again – usually a strand has slipped out of the terminal or L and N are swapped.
You'll find matching cable, lamp holders and accessories for the refit bundled in the configurator, or individually under Accessories.