Lighting a Triang Dolls House

Many of the Triang Dolls Houses that are fitted with electric lights, have wooden panels fitted with brass bulb holders.  These panels fit into the back of the house.  The light bulbs are linked by thin wire, and can be turned on and off,  when the metal bar on the outside of the house completes the circuit. The power is provided by batteries stored in holes in the roof space.

 

This is the back of my Princess 2 Dolls House, showing the holes for the bulbs in relation to the position of each room.

This house has 2 different boards for the lights.  Each board works on a wiring system which links both lights when the metal bar completes the circuit.

 

The brass bulb holders were dull with age, so I took them apart and cleaned them.

The picture above shows the underneath of the bulb holder with the cardboard disc, and the small tabs for attaching the wire.

This bulb holder came apart when I removed it, but it does show the different parts.

The bulb holder consists of the holder a rubber disc and the metal connector pin.

This is how the bulb holder should be.  When I removed it, it became slightly bent so I tapped it gently with a hammer to make it flat.  The holder has also been cleaned up, to give a better connection.

The top connection is made by making a loop with the wire around the copper tack.

The bottom connection is made by making a loop with the wire around the small connections on the bulb holder.

I am using a plastic coated wire, but as you can see it makes the holder stand proud of the board.

I made more cardboard discs, this give more height for the wire, but also for the copper pins which attach the holders to the board, which is not very thick.

Copper Tacks …

The metal tags on the right of the board make the connection to the battery.  They are missing from the picture below, but the connection can still be made as the metal fasteners are still there.

 

The board  is in position, with the metal tags to fit the battery.

The holes in the roof were empty, so I had no reference to how the batteries were fitted, so I purchased this plastic battery holder.  It fits nicely in the roof space.  I think at one time the holders were made of metal.

The wires from the battery holder are connected to the metal tabs on the board, to provide power to the lights.  There we, are ready to go.