I am re wiring a hanging lamp. I know the black wire is the hot. My problem is this, the replacement wire is gold. There is no apparent groove in the wire, but one side does have writing on it. If I remember correctly the side with the writing is the hot?
Should not be major problem as long as it is just the lamp itself you are wiring as all grounds should be separate of the device itself ac current should in general for safety sake be regarded as hot on both sides. To many times i have seen white used as a hot leg in wiring three way switches
Check the cord that you are using. Feel it with your fingers and try to find a ridge on one wire or the other. This is the indicated conductor that would usually be the neutral or white side of the lamp socket. This is the shell or outer side of the lamp holder. At the plug end it should go to the larger blade of the cord cap. It may also have a thread in one of the wires. As long as it is consistent and the neutral is wired to the shell the electricity does not care which wire it goes through. The issue is when someone wires the line side or the smallblade of the plug to the outside or shell of the lamp. Too many so called electricians on here have no clue about how to wire any thing. If in doubt at all, call a qualified professional electrician to do the work.
That will work. Both wires are the same, but one needs to be assigned as black AT BOTH ENDS. You could use the wire with the writing in it, or mark one wire with black magic marker, and carefully trace that same wire to the other end and mark it with black magic marker too. (But if there is no groove in the wire insulation, you probably won't be able to trace one wire from one end to the other. In that case, you'd need to use an electrician's continuity meter to find the same wire at the other end). The other two answerer's are correct that the bulb will light, BUT it will be unsafe if wired backwards. NAILBENDER's answer fails to recognize the safety hazard of wiring the hot to the wrong side of a light. You don't want the hot side to electrify the threaded sides of an electrical light bulb fixture! The hot needs to be on the bottom center of the bulb fixture. ROODOG1's answer also fails to recognize that someone could get shocked when screwing in (or out) a light bulb and touching the threaded side of the bulb which may be hot if wired wrong. DILLIGAF makes the same error, even though he says he's an electrician! Read a do-it-yourself electricians website; don't rely on these people's answers! Exception: If your lamp is plug-in that does not have one prong wider than the other, then it doesn't make a difference which wire is hot because the plug goes into the receptacle either way.
Okay, honestly, it doesn't matter what is hot and what is not. What matters is that you connect one of the lamp wires to the black and the other to white. This would complete the circuit and allow current to flow through the lamp. There should be two wires for the lamp and two wires, hey, a lamp should come with a plug that goes into an outlet. Well, like I said, it doesn't matter, just as long as you complete the circuit.
Good that you asked. Polarity on alternating circuits does matter. The side of the wire with a little ridge on it is the neutral side and goes to the white screw on the lamp socket. The other wire is the hot and goes to the center pin. Wired reverse of this the light will still turn off with the switch, but you will still have power at the screw shell on the socket. This is how folks get shocked when changing a bulb even though the switch is off. Same with appliances. You think it is safe to open them and look around inside because the switch is off, but power is still present through the internal workings all the way back to the switch. Trust me on that! All electrical circuits, be they AC or DC are a loop. Break that loop anywhere along the way and it ceases to work. Not understanding this simple fact is why so many folks have trouble fixing electrical circuits. It is especially true with trailer lights. But that's another subject.
