How to Light a Front Opening Dollhouse using Roundwire

INTRODUCTION

If you have a front-opening dollhouse and want to learn how to add lights to the front panel, this tutorial is for you! I'm sure you're thinking that it may be difficult if you wanted to add a porch light or lights to the outside of the house. You're probably wondering how you attach the wires to the main wire, right? The answer lies in the hinges!

Think of the hinges acting as a bridge, carrying the electricity across the opening. It is safe to have the hinges carry the electricity. You can even paint the hinges and touch them when the lights are on!

This tutorial will show you how light your front opening dollhouse step by step.

Important Notes Before Starting!

• here to show you how to light a dollhouse.
  

  
  

• Make sure you are using two separate hinges for the front panel. If you are using one long hinge, this method will not work. It is recommended that you get two separate hinges.
  
  
• It is recommended that you only use one light on the front panel for each set of hinges. Using more then one light may short out the lights .
  
  
• It is recommended that you finish the panel to the point where you will not need to remove the hinges or panel once the lights are installed.
  
  

  Step 1 - Run the Wires from the light to the hinges

  It is recommended that you save the lights for the front of the house until last. This means you should plan and wire all the other lights in the house first before working on the lights for the front panel. The reason for this is you will need to have your junction splice and main wire installed and working before you install the front panel lights.

  
  

  

  
  

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    With pencil, lightly make an X marking where each light will be attached to the front panel. Then carefully look at the other side of the wall and determine where you will want to run the wires to connect to the hinges.

    Determine where on the front panel you want to put the light(s)

    
    

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      Lightly draw a line (or use masking tape) to indicate where the wires will be run to connect to the hinges. If the wires are to go through the wall, make a mark (like a circle) to indicate a hole to be drilled and continue the line on the other side. These lines will be your guidelines for making grooves where the wires will lay.
      

      Mark where the wires will go

      
      

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      During the initial planning stages where you make the lines for the wires for each light, determine if the wires that come with the lights are long enough or if they will need to be lengthened. Note this on a separate piece of paper so you can work on lengthening the lights (this step is discussed in the Hybrid Lighting Tutorial found here.
      

      Determine what wires will need to be lengthened.

      
      

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      Remove the plug from the light and attach the light to the front of the house using glue or the sticky pad on the light. Feed the wire through the hole you drilled. Save the plug. If you are using a socket strip, you will need the plug later.

      Attach the light to the front of house and feed the wire through to the other side.

      
      

    

    In the picture above, a coach light is attached to the wall on the other side. A hole was drilled to run the wire through the front panel. Grooves were made and the wires were placed in the grooves.

    Make sure you do NOT screw the screws into the wire!

    

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After feeding the wire through the hole, run it along the inside panel until you get near the hinges. At that point, separate the two strands of the wire and run each strand to a hinge as shown in the image above. Use tape to hold the separate wires in place.

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Take one strand of wire from the light and using your thumb fingernail, pinch the white insulation over one of the strands of wire and pull. This will pull the insulation off without breaking the wires. You don't need to strip a lot of insulation from the wires, just enough for the bare wire to go under the hinge. About 1/4" to 1/2" of bare is sufficient. You will have to do this on both strands of one end of the wire from the light. With your tweezers, twist each end to make sure the fine wires are gathered up together.

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Take each end of the bare wire and place it under each hinge. If the hinges are already screwed into the panel, unscrew them enough to loosen the hinge and stick the wire under it. Tighten the screws. Make sure the bare wire touches the bare hinge. Repeat for the other hinge.