Banker's Lamp Pull Chain Socket Repair

A customer brought in a banker lamp the other day and complained it stopped working. The pull chain socket was not functioning properly so the lamp would not come on at all.

Typical Banker Lamp

Our initial inspection determined the only problem with the lamp was the pull chain socket. The lamp cord and bulb were in good working order. The only lamp part we'll need for this repair is a new pull chain socket interior.

1) Pull Chain Medium Base Lamp Socket Interior

48210 - Pull chain socket interior, no paper insulator

Making sure the lamp is unplugged, we unscrew the socket shell from the socket cap. Remove the socket shell and pull the old socket interior out as much as possible.

Unscrew the lamp cord from the old screw terminals and remove the socket interior. For this lamp, the socket cap was a little loose, so we tightened the cap and adjusted the set screw.

Stretch the wires out as long as possible and identify the smooth cord and the ribbed cord. The smooth wire connects to the brass screw terminal and the ribbed wire connects to the nickel screw terminal on the new socket interior.

Push the socket interior back into the socket cap. Screw the socket shell back on the socket cap.

Add a bulb and test the lamp.

Job well done. Total cost <$5.00 Total time < 20 minutes

Vintage Eagle Cast Iron Industrial Gooseneck Desk Lamp Pull Chain Socket

Industrial style lighting is very popular for its simple lines and function over form design. In the early 1900's Eagle Lighting brought us some really great simple Gooseneck style desk lamps. They were so simple, many of them are still around and working well. We had a chance to look one over and here is what we did for repair.

As with any repair, we start with an inspection. Looking at the cord, socket, base, and body this lamp seems to be in really good shape. The lamp cord has an old style plug where both prongs are the same size. This means they are not polarized and we will need to replace the cord. The socket sounds and feels good, but we might find it needs work too. 

We start by unscrewing the shade from the socket. 

Next we open the socket. The socket shell is removed from the socket cap. The socket shell is slid off the socket interior. 

The socket insulator looks really good so we will reuse it. The socket interior is also in good shape. Next, we remove the old lamp cord from the socket interior. 

Now we need to pull the old lamp cord out and push the new lamp cord in. This operation can be tricky with bent arm lamps so we are going to use a guide wire. First we will attach the guide wire at the top of the lamp to the old cord. Then we will pull the guide wire to the base of the lamp and attach our new lamp cord. Finally we pull our guide wire up to the top of the lamp. Then the new cord is ready to be attached to the socket. 

The new lamp cord is stripped. 

We tie a UL knot in the cord and attach the socket interior. The smooth cord attaches to the brass screw and the ribbed cord attaches to the nickel screw. 

The socket insulator and shell is placed back on the socket. We make sure the pull chain is pointing down and snap the socket shell into the socket cap. 

Next the shade goes back on the socket. 

Now we add a bulb and test the lamp. 

Very nice! Total Cost < $8.00 Total Time < 40 minutes.