Monday, January 19, 2015

1950's Mallard TV Lamp Repair

In the 1950's television lamps were common and an expression of your personality. The reason for the lamps was to reduce the harsh light coming from the television. You can read more about the TV Lamps in this interesting article: TV Lamps of the 1950's.

A customer brought in this lamp the other day and asked for it to be repaired. The socket was exposed and the lamp cord was not polarized.




The socket is a Leviton 2 Piece bottom turn knob husk socket. It has a bakelite (phenolic) insulator that has broken over time and left the socket exposed. The first thing we do is remove the old socket with a pair of pliers.




We have a Leviton brand Leviton 2 Piece bottom turn knob husk socket but it is not exactly the same socket. The bottom threaded rod is shorter than the original and is not long enough to attach a nut.


We find that using the insulator from the new socket will fit the old socket interior. We will need to remove the old lamp cord (it gets replaced anyway) and solder on the new lamp cord. Remember to thread the phenolic insulator on the lamp cord first.





With the new solder on the socket interior, the socket is put back together.



The socket is reattached to the lamp. Using a pair of pliers the nut is tightened slowly. Over tightening this nut can cause the ceramic lamp to crack.




A bulb is added and the lamp is tested.



Harmony restored. Total Cost <$10 Total Time < 25 minutes

A fun note: while repairing this lamp we found a penny. This lamp has a trough in front (light a lot of TV lamps) and it was probably used as a spot for change. Wedged between the trough and the duck was a 1945 wheat penny. We placed the penny back in its holding spot for the next time it needs repair; 50 more years.




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