Turning a white power cord black help

The 2 ships lamps I just got came with white cords. Replacing them with a black cord is not what I want to do. The person who converted it from an oil lamp to electric soldered everything together. I could splice a black cord onto the white, but I'd still be spending money on a cord I'd rather not and still have some white cord sticking out regardless.

Any have a painless way to make a white cord black? Paint tends to be sticky on cords I have found.

On 2014-06-24 10:50, Swanky wrote:
Any have a painless way to make a white cord black?

Krylon has a line called Fusion that is designed specifically for painting on plastic. It is a bit more expensive, but it works better and doesn't make the plastic all tacky (looking or feeling).

You can buy lengths of heat shrink wrap used for wiring. I have seen them in up to four foot lengths. What about getting a length and slicing it down the length to be able to slip it over the white cord and then shrinking it?

Would taping black electrical tape around it (in a candy cane swirl pattern) suffice?

Splicing cord is pretty easy and would give the best result. Maybe you should give it a second thought.

Sunglasses.

But seriously, if it's going to "live" in one place and not move around, I'd try a different spray paint, or the one listed above. Maybe let it sit/ dry for a while before turning the light on (letting the cord heat up)?

Splicing is the easier/ safer bet.

[ Edited by: TikiAno 2014-06-24 20:08 ]

I'll second Chip & Andy's suggestion to try that Fusion paint. Haven't heard about it, nor used it, but that sounds promising. I did a bunch of researching paint/stain options for the white vinyl front of my bar (I wound up just reupholstering it). There are special vinyl spray paints on the market, but they're tough to come by and a bit pricey—though I did find some for cheap at a shoe repair shop. If Krylon is filling that almost-hole in the market, that sounds like it's worth trying. If you lived nearer, I'd just give you the black vinyl spray paint I never used! You can maybe pick up a cord in a thrift shop to use as a test, if you don't have some test cord lying around the house.

On 2014-06-24 20:12, Humuhumu wrote:
There are special vinyl spray paints on the market, but they're tough to come by and a bit pricey—

Anytime in the past I've needed Vinyl spray paint I got it at Pep Boys...made for car seats and interior.

As far as the cord, not what you wanna hear, but on all my vintage lamps I redo everything...cords, switches and sockets.
I don't like being zapped or the possibility of fire from an old lamp. for less than $20 and a hour time I have peace of mind

PAINT?
Come on Tim you are going to spend $6.00 bucks or so on high dollar paint that will flake off
in no time.

Change it all for like $10.00 more bucks and be done with it.

If the cord is good you could just braid some hemp around it and hide it that way.

I've still yet to try it, but I think this stuff would work to dye a white cord:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Dye-for-PVC-STAIN-1-oz-concentrate-lqd-/260720985413

It may work Jim, But now you are
paying more than the costs of the best fix that you know would work.

I think it's fun to rewire stuff, not that hard to do.
Plus you get the added advantage of making the cord just as long as you want.

Rewiring is just a giant pain here because whoever made this oil lamp electric went ahead and soldered the socket into the lamp base, along with soldering the wires in. The wires are unreachable.

I can splice in a black wire. I'd just not like to spend $15 per lamp on cords if there was just an easier way. I think the shrink wrap stuff is expensive as I recall.

Using regular paint on cords will result in them being tacky for life. Nothing "dries" them.

Will look into a specialty paint and that may be the fast and easy answer.

Here is a video showing the dye I linked above...used on cords.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ITGM1XILb4

Granted it is more for the dye, but you'll have enough to use for future cords as well.

You could always buy a different lamp or trade this one for one you like better.

No need to thank GROG. GROG happy to help. :D

sharpie

On 2014-06-25 11:22, Sophista-tiki wrote:
sharpie

THIS is the only one that meets all of your needs!
Great idea.

Don't buy a whole package of sharpies for this would blow your budget
and put you right back to, dam this is going to cost an arm and a leg.

I do think that using a Sharpie is an inspired idea, but I've found Sharpies to leave a purple, glossy sheen, and I imagine you'd prefer a matte finish. May not make a big difference, depending on if/how light gets cast onto the cord.

On 2014-06-25 14:16, Humuhumu wrote:
I do think that using a Sharpie is an inspired idea, but I've found Sharpies to leave a purple, glossy sheen,

The secret to heavy color from sharpies is multiple coats.

Use a cross-hatch kind of pattern going mostly all one way, let it 'dry' a day or so, then go over it again with the same pattern but turned so it crosses. All //// one day and all \\ the next. If it still isn't dark enough you can go again until you run out of sharpie or get a dark enough color.

YOu can use the big chisel-tip version and make it go a bit faster.

How to Color in a Coloring Book

Edited by James_Bond, Nicole Willson, Flickety, Dave Crosby and 27 others

One Methods:Printable Coloring Pages
Coloring books are fun for all ages. These are the beginnings steps to becoming an artist, and it is fun recreation. However, if you want to learn to color a book effectively, follow these steps to make the best of your arty needs.
http://www.wikihow.com/Color-in-a-Coloring-Book

I do believe this has been my greatest contribution to TC in years.

On 2014-06-25 17:56, Sophista-tiki wrote:
I do believe this has been my greatest contribution to TC in years.

ha ha ha!

On 2014-06-25 17:56, Sophista-tiki wrote:
I do believe this has been my greatest contribution to TC in years.

looking at the present state of Tiki Central as of late this may be THE
best thread here in years!

On 2014-06-26 05:17, tikiskip wrote:

On 2014-06-25 17:56, Sophista-tiki wrote:
I do believe this has been my greatest contribution to TC in years.

looking at the present state of Tiki Central as of late this may be THE
best thread here in years!

Its not that bad...but it is sad we don't have more posters. I understand the plight of forums owning one myself (http://www.captivereefs.com) it is tough with facebook, instagram, etc. and all the other things tugging at everyone's attention. What sucks is that informative threads like this one slip away and can't easily be searched and used by other people with similar problems on those other sites. But I digress...

Good suggestion sophista-tiki!

[ Edited by: jimsflies 2014-06-26 06:27 ]

Leather dye?

Get some black surgical latex tubing online or at a dive shop. It's about a buck a foot.
You could cut the plug of the cord and try to slide the cord thru (sounds difficult) and splice the plug back on the cord
or slice the tubing so you can wrap the cord with the tubing.

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2014-06-26 10:26 ]

So, I assumed wrong. A new cord was only $7. Going to splice it in and color the foot or so of white with a Sharpie or something...

Ooo and it's alright and it's comin' 'long
We got to get right back to where we started from.....

You could use the heat shrink wrap used for wiring to cover the small white cord part as well.
For now it would be a small area to cover.
I could even send you some if you need.

Would taping black electrical tape around it (in a candy cane swirl pattern) suffice?

On 2014-07-02 06:26, Chip and Andy wrote:
Would taping black electrical tape around it (in a candy cane swirl pattern) suffice?

Not where the lamp is going because it'll be hot. I'd fear a sticky tape mess.

It's all done, except the Starboard lamp is too big to find a place for it in the bar. I have no place for it! It'll fit somewhere.

My other project turned out well. Coated the inside of a netted saki jug with white paint diluted with water to make it a lamp. That will go up in the next few days.

On 2014-07-02 06:26, Chip and Andy wrote:
Would taping black electrical tape around it (in a candy cane swirl pattern) suffice?

Ha! That's word for word the exact question I asked on page one. And it didn't get answered until it was repeated by someone else. I'm not sure how to feel about this...Invisible?

Anyway, we want pictures of the lamp!

On 2014-07-02 14:37, Slacks Ferret wrote:

On 2014-07-02 06:26, Chip and Andy wrote:
Would taping black electrical tape around it (in a candy cane swirl pattern) suffice?

Ha! That's word for word the exact question I asked on page one. And it didn't get answered until it was repeated by someone else. I'm not sure how to feel about this...Invisible?

Anyway, we want pictures of the lamp!

Tikiskip said we were starting over but he skipped ahead by a couple of suggestions so I picked up where he (re)started... I thought we were going to go all the way around one more time because it was so much fun the first time. I was really looking forward to the part about the coloring book instructions.

On 2014-06-24 15:12, Slacks Ferret wrote:
Would taping black electrical tape around it (in a candy cane swirl pattern) suffice?

Not where the lamp is going because it'll be hot. I'd fear a sticky tape mess.

It's all done, except the Starboard lamp is too big to find a place for it in the bar. I have no place for it! It'll fit somewhere.

My other project turned out well. Coated the inside of a netted saki jug with white paint diluted with water to make it a lamp. That will go up in the next few days.