Table Lamp Shade Replacement With a Plastic Socket and Ring

A customer brought in a table lamp the other day needing a new lamp shade. The old shade was cracked and faded. This lamp came from a big box store. Specifically, this lamp came from a Swedish furniture store; if you get the IDEA. The shade was worn out and the inside liner was busted. The customer thought the size and shape was still good so they only wanted to replace the shade.

After a quick inspection of the lamp, we determined the socket, cord, switch and other general lamp parts were in good working order. The shade on the lamp had arms from the top of the shade to a ring in the middle. The ring fit over the shell of the socket and was held in place with a retention ring.

Since this lamp maker served the European market, we needed a harp saddle to fit where that shade's ring connected to the socket. Antique Lamp Supply offers a harp saddle designed to fit on Nord and GU24 sockets with retention rings.

Harp Base for GU24 and Nord Sockets

With this harp saddle we were able to add a traditional harp to the lamp and use a typical washer fitter shade with a finial.

Now the lamp avoids the landfill and no one has to be concerned with the busted and worn out lamp shade.

Porcelain Table Lamp Repair - New Socket and Cord

A customer brought in this table lamp the other day and said it needed a new socket and cord set. This is a common repair for any lamp. If you found a lamp at a yard sale, flea market, or online and it needed some basic repair, these are the steps to take.

First, always give the lamp a general inspection. This will help you prepare a list of needed parts. We like to only replace bad, worn out parts. Safety is also an issue. Loose hardware and non-polarized plugs should be addressed as part of any repair.

This lamp seems to be in decent shape so the only lamp parts needed for this repair are:

1) Brass lamp socket

40250 - On-Off Leviton Light Socket, Brass, Polished & Lacquered

2) Lamp cord set 

Antique Brass Color, 18/2 Plastic Covered Lamp Cord

The repair starts by unplugging the lamp and removing the light bulb.

Next, remove the harp from the lamp. Lift the locking couplings and squeeze the harp toward the socket.

Remove the socket shell from the socket cap. Using a flat head screw driver, apply pressure on the socket shell and lift it from the socket cap.

Unscrew the old lamp cord from the old socket interior and remove the socket interior.

Untie the old UL Knot and pull the old cord down to the lamp base.

Now you want to remove the old socket cap. Loosen any set screw and unscrew the socket cap from the lamp body. Screw the new socket cap on the threaded rod and tighten any set screw. If your lamp has a front and back, make sure your harp saddle is oriented side to side.

With the socket and cord removed, now is the best time to tighten the lamp body. The lamp will go back together the same way it came apart. First, push the new lamp cord up the lamp body to the socket cap.

Next, tie a UL Knot in the lamp cord.

Screw the wires onto the new socket interior. The smooth wire connects to the brass screw and the ribbed wire connects to the nickel screw.

Slip the socket shell over the interior. Pull any cord slack back down the bottom of the lamp body. Snap the socket shell into the socket cap making sure both sides are securely snapped into the cap.

Add a bulb and test the lamp.

This lamp is back in service for another 40 years. Total cost: < $25.00 total time < 45 minutes

Floral Table Lamp Needs New Socket and Harp

A customer brought in this lamp the other day and asked us to wire a new socket and harp on the lamp. We noticed some odd things on the lamp and agree it could use some new parts.

Lesson 1: Know Your Lamp Anatomy

This lamp to the untrained eye might seem a little dated but otherwise completely functional. Here are some trouble spots: unused side outlet in socket cap and uni-body lamp harp.

Socket side outlets have a purpose: allow lamp cord to bypass the lamp body. Some bottle lamps or urn lamps might not have a hole through the lamp body to run a cord and need a side outlet socket. This lamp has a threaded rod from the base of the lamp for the cord, so the side outlet is strange.

Crimped harps to bases are common in older lamps. They never thought the shade would be replaced and a different harp size might be needed. Today's harps have a saddle on the bottom and the top of the harp can be changed easily depending on the harp size needed.

Lesson 2: Make a List

Nothing worse than finding out your morning run to the hardware store was wasted from an incomplete list, or your latest online order for parts need more items so you have to wait for delivery. Making a list helps eliminate the time wasting errors.

For this lamp, we will only need the following lamp parts: socket cap, brass plated harp, and a new lamp cord. We will reuse the socket interior, socket shell, neck, threaded rod, and the rest of the lamp.

40300 - Leviton Brand Socket Cap

12758 - 9" harp, brass plated, regular weight

46717 - Unfinished Brass Color Lamp Cord Set

Lesson 3: Remove Old Parts

With the lamp unplugged, you will want to pry the socket shell from the socket cap. Pull the socket shell off the socket interior and unwire the lamp cord from the screw terminals.

Untie the UL Knot and pull the lamp cord down through the base of the lamp.

Remove the old socket cap and the old harp base from the threaded rod.

 Lesson 5: Reassemble The Lamp

Going in reverse order from the disassembly, the new lamp parts go back on the lamp is similar order. First, the new harp saddle and socket cap go on the threaded rod. Make sure the harp saddle is oriented so the face of the lamp is in front.

Push the new lamp cord up through the threaded rod to the socket cap.

Tie a UL Knot in the lamp cord.

Attach the socket interior to the lamp cord. For polarity, the smooth wire connects to the brass screw and the nickel screw connects to the ribbed wire. Pull any cord slack from the lamp base and seat the socket interior on the socket cap.

Slide the socket shell over the socket interior and snap it into the socket cap. The socket shell should fit snugly in the cap and not have any wiggle room or movement.

Add a bulb and test the lamp.

Complete! Total time < 30 minutes Total Cost < $15

Small Aladdin Moonstone Glass Table Lamp with Loose Brass Cap

A customer brought in this small Aladdin Moonstone glass table lamp the other day and wanted the brass cap reattached and the lamp back to working condition. Initial inspection reveals an old non-polarized lamp cord. All other lamp parts (harp, harp base, socket cap, socket shell, socket interior, and brass collar) seem to be in good working order.

The plan for this repair is to repair the brass collar and reattach it to the lamp. Replace and rewire the lamp with a new lamp cord with UL List polarized plug. The collar will require some epoxy and the plug is an 8 Foot SPT-1 brown cord set.

46700 - Brown, 18/2 Plastic Covered Lamp Cord Sets

99050 - Devcon 5 Minute Epoxy

First, we start by disassembling the lamp. The socket shell unsnaps from the socket cap. Be careful when you plan to reuse parts not to damage the socket shell or cap. The old lamp cord unscrews from the socket screw terminals and the cord is pulled out from the bottom of the lamp.

With the lamp apart, we will start on the repair. The first thing we want to do is completely remove the brass collar from the socket cap and the harp base.

Now we need to clean the old plaster/glue from the brass collar. Using a small carving tool (in this case a Drimmel) we carve out the old adhesive.

The brass collar has been restored and ready to be reused. The socket cap, harp base, collar, and threaded rod are put together again.

Using our 5 minute epoxy, we pour a dab on a cardboard scrap and mix the parts together.

The epoxy is applied to both the collar and the top of the glass lamp body. The collar is placed on the lamp and the harp base is oriented properly on the lamp.

We let the epoxy cure. Now we are ready to complete the repair. First, we push the new lamp cord up the lamp body. We tie a UL knot in the lamp cord and attach the cord to the socket interior. The smooth wire connects to the brass screw and the ribbed wire connects to the nickel screw.

The cord slack is pulled back down to the base of the lamp body. The push-thru switch is oriented center of the harp base. Slide the socket shell over the socket interior and snap it into the socket cap. Add a bulb and test the lamp.

Complete! Total time < 30 minutes, Total cost < $10.00