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We bought a couple of arched LED mirrors to mount above the sinks in our newly remodeled bathroom. I had 1" recessed outlets installed where both mirrors will sit that will be about 10" below where the cord comes out of the mirror in the back. The problem is, the mirrors have a plug that will stick up above the recessed outlet such that the mirror will not lay flat. I can't find a three-pronged plug that I can replace the existing plug with that won't also be too tall (I can find lots of two-pronged plugs that would work, but no three-pronged plugs). Otherwise, I could have just cut the original plug off and installed a new, flatter plug.
However, I did find an appliance plug that would work perfectly, but I can't get the backs off the mirrors to get inside the mirror to replace the cord. So...here's what I "think" I want to do. Does this seem like it would work, or can anyone suggest a better way that won't result in ugly connections between the old cord and the new cord to be visible?
My plan: Here are some pictures: One of the back of one of the mirror, with the large plug shown in the foreground. Also, a picture of the wall where one of the mirrors will hang. Here you can see the screws where the mirror will hang and 10" below that, the recessed outlet. Third, a Picture of an appliance cord, which was the only "three pronged" plug I could find that would not stick up above the level of the recessed plug.
Another consideration is that the hole where the current cord comes out is too small to allow for the larger appliance cord and soldered / heat shrink connections to be pushed through into the mirror cavity and out of sight. I'll need to enlarge the hole.
Since I can't really remove the back of the mirror, what I am thinking is to cut the original mirror cord so that about 4 inches is sticking out. Then use electrical tape to securely wrap a paper clip to the end of the wire (for reasons that will become clear in a moment), then carefully push the wire with paper clip into the mirror. This should allow me to use a step drill to enlarge the hole large enough to allow for the appliance cord and soldered connections to be pushed through, even with a larger grommet installed.
Once the hole has been enlarged, I'm hoping I can reach in with some sort of hook tool and catch the end of the paper clip that is secured to the wire, thus allowing me to more easily fish the wire back out. At this point, I'd install a larger grommet that will still allow the larger wire to be pushed through, then complete the soldering of the end of the original cord to the new appliance cord (cut to appropriate length for this application). With the soldering and heat shrinking completed, I would push the connections into the mirror cavern through the now larger hole, thus hiding the connections from view and allowing only the new appliance cord to be seen.
This is the only way I can think of to allow for a three pronged plug to be installed that will not sit proud of the recessed receptacle, thus allowing the mirrors to sit flush on the wall. I know I could probably replace the receptacles with a junction box and just hard-wire them, but I'd really rather have the ability to easily unplug the mirrors and move them if needed (for painting for example, or just cleaning). If anyone has any other ideas on how to do this, I'd love to hear them. I'm not sure why the mirror manufacturer didn't use a flat plug to begin with.
The current plug that sits too tall. Also can see where the cord comes out of the mirror through a hole that needs to be enlarged for the larger flay appliance cord.
The mirror had two built-in brackets that will mount on these two anchored screws. The recessed outlet is seen about 10" below this point.
The appliance cord with a flatter plug that won't stick out above the recessed outlet.
However, I did find an appliance plug that would work perfectly, but I can't get the backs off the mirrors to get inside the mirror to replace the cord. So...here's what I "think" I want to do. Does this seem like it would work, or can anyone suggest a better way that won't result in ugly connections between the old cord and the new cord to be visible?
My plan: Here are some pictures: One of the back of one of the mirror, with the large plug shown in the foreground. Also, a picture of the wall where one of the mirrors will hang. Here you can see the screws where the mirror will hang and 10" below that, the recessed outlet. Third, a Picture of an appliance cord, which was the only "three pronged" plug I could find that would not stick up above the level of the recessed plug.
Another consideration is that the hole where the current cord comes out is too small to allow for the larger appliance cord and soldered / heat shrink connections to be pushed through into the mirror cavity and out of sight. I'll need to enlarge the hole.
Since I can't really remove the back of the mirror, what I am thinking is to cut the original mirror cord so that about 4 inches is sticking out. Then use electrical tape to securely wrap a paper clip to the end of the wire (for reasons that will become clear in a moment), then carefully push the wire with paper clip into the mirror. This should allow me to use a step drill to enlarge the hole large enough to allow for the appliance cord and soldered connections to be pushed through, even with a larger grommet installed.
Once the hole has been enlarged, I'm hoping I can reach in with some sort of hook tool and catch the end of the paper clip that is secured to the wire, thus allowing me to more easily fish the wire back out. At this point, I'd install a larger grommet that will still allow the larger wire to be pushed through, then complete the soldering of the end of the original cord to the new appliance cord (cut to appropriate length for this application). With the soldering and heat shrinking completed, I would push the connections into the mirror cavern through the now larger hole, thus hiding the connections from view and allowing only the new appliance cord to be seen.
This is the only way I can think of to allow for a three pronged plug to be installed that will not sit proud of the recessed receptacle, thus allowing the mirrors to sit flush on the wall. I know I could probably replace the receptacles with a junction box and just hard-wire them, but I'd really rather have the ability to easily unplug the mirrors and move them if needed (for painting for example, or just cleaning). If anyone has any other ideas on how to do this, I'd love to hear them. I'm not sure why the mirror manufacturer didn't use a flat plug to begin with.
The current plug that sits too tall. Also can see where the cord comes out of the mirror through a hole that needs to be enlarged for the larger flay appliance cord.
The mirror had two built-in brackets that will mount on these two anchored screws. The recessed outlet is seen about 10" below this point.
The appliance cord with a flatter plug that won't stick out above the recessed outlet.
