Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Vintage Santa Clause Gets a New Heart

I love Christmas time and especially old Christmas decorations. When a customer brought in this vintage Santa Clause, we were happy to get him back to our workshop.


He was in generally good shape but with all things electrical, age has taken its toll. The cord was thin, short, and frail. The socket was crunchy and rusty.



So with a few lamp parts, Santa will be back in service and ready to spread Christmas cheer. We'll start by making a list, then check it twice. Santa Clause is coming to town!

For the socket, we'll use a medium base with side mounted bracket.

47700 - Med. Base Lamp Socket with side mounted bracket, screw terminals

For the cord, we'll use a 12 foot white cord set.

46721- 12 ft. Length, White 18/2 Plastic Covered Lamp Cord Set, SPT-1
First, simply remove the old socket and cord set from Santa.







Cut the old plug off the old cord and attach the new cord to the old cord with some simple tape. Pull the cord up and out the ho, ho, holes. Now the new cord is hanging out the top and the bottom holes.




Now we need to tie a UL knot in the cord and connect it to the socket. The smooth wire connects to the brass screw and the ribbed wire connects to the nickel screw.






Now connect the new socket bracket to the Santa body.





Plug in the cord and test it out.




That is a jolly good time. Total Cost < $12.00 Total Time < 20 minutes

Friday, October 5, 2018

How to Measure a Glass Shade Fitter

With a measuring tape and some quick tips you will be able to measure nearly any glass shade. In this video we demonstrate how to measure a student, ball, dome and fixture shade.


Remember, the shade edge is slightly smaller than the shade holder so they will fit together.

Friday, August 31, 2018

Can you use a standard bulb in a 3-way socket?

Most sockets require you to have a matching bulb. A mogul socket would require a mogul bulb and a GU-24 socket requires a GU-24 bulb. 3-Way sockets do not have the same requirement. I would say that most 3-way sockets probably don't have 3-way bulbs in them because they can operate a standard light bulb.

How can you tell if the socket is 3-way?


You can look inside the socket for the second bulb contact.


Without removing the bulb, you can tell a three way just by turning the knob as demonstrated in this video:


3-Way bulbs aren't for everyone. They are more expensive than standard bulbs and in some instances they might be too bright.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Repair Table Lamp Socket

Sometimes the table lamp quits working. After a few bulbs, you realize it need more that just a bulb. In this video we demonstrate how easy repairing a socket can be. Not all repairs and lamps are the same.



The socket interior used in this video is a 3-way turn knob interior.

48207i - 3-Way turn-knob medium base E26 lamp socket interior for 3-Way bulbs, short mandrel, 250W- 250V

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Porcelain Table Lamp Socket Repair

A customer brought in this porcelain table lamp and wanted it to be repaired. The old socket wasn't working well and it needed a new lamp cord. They decided to go with an antique brass finish socket and a new harp with matching hardware. The lamp parts needed for this repair include:

1) Antique Brass Push-thru Socket
48341A - Push-Thru Med. Base Lamp Socket with Antique Brass finish


2) Antique Brass Finish Harp
12758A - 9" harp, heavy weight, antique brass finish


3) Brown 18/2 Lamp Cord Set
46710 - 8 ft. Length, Brown 18/2 Plastic Covered Lamp Cord Set, SPT-1
We start by disassembling the lamp. Remove the harp by pulling up on the locking couplings and squeezing the harp toward the socket.





Next, pry the socket shell from the socket cap. Most sockets are marked "push" on the side. Using a flat-head screwdriver, apply pressure to the socket shell and pull it out of the cap.




Unscrew the old socket from the lamp cord. Remove the old socket cap from the threaded rod.



Remove the old harp saddle from the threaded rod. Pull the old lamp cord down the lamp and out the base of the lamp.



With all the electrical parts removed from the lamp, now is a good time to do some extra cleaning and tighten the threaded rod. Start building the lamp back in reverse order on the disassembly. First, the new cord is pushed up from the bottom.



The new harp saddle slides over the threaded rod and the new socket cap threads on the rod. When the socket cap is snug, tighten the set screw.



Next, tie a UL knot in the cord and attach the new socket interior to the cord. The smooth cord connects to the brass screw terminal and the ribbed cord connects to the nickel screw terminal.



Next, pull the cord slack out the base of the lamp so the socket interior sets close to the socket cap. Slide the socket shell over the interior and snap it into the socket cap.



Add a bulb and test the lamp.



The new lamp harp connects to the harp saddle by lifting the locking couplings and squeezing the harp. This lamp is finished and ready to enjoy.

Total cost: <$ 10 Total time < 30 minutes