How To Replace Lamp Socket -Top Ways For Lamp Socket Replacement

Different light socket types are probably available in your neighborhood hardware or home center. Focus on the appropriate light bulb base size to cut down your choices. The light bulb goes into the socket here with a screwdriver. The E26 base is used for regular-sized light bulbs. You might wish to bring one of the lamp's bulbs to the store for a test fit if your socket has a different base size. Next, check for sockets with the same dimensions as the old socket (particularly in height) and switch types (pull chain, twisting knob, push button, etc.). Check the socket's installation method—how it is connected to the lamp—as well.

Remove the plug from the wall outlet. Never use any machinery while the lamp is connected. We'll work on removing the bulb next. Remove the shade, unscrew the bulb, and press the socket shell at the switch to separate it from the socket cap and the cardboard insulator. Do not pry the socket apart with a screwdriver if you intend to reuse it. Pull the socket as far from the shell as the connecting wire will allow. If you still don't have enough wire, pull the cord up from the bottom of the light for more slack.

The lamp's harp, a wire hoop made of brass (and silver), which surrounds the light bulb and retains the lampshade in place, should be removed along with the lampshade, light bulb, and lamp. The harp is fastened to the amplifier near the bottom of the socket.

Find the two wires connected to the light switch mechanism after removing the socket from the shell. Before detaching the wires, note which color screw is connected to which wire. Brass screws are commonly used to secure lamp switches to the hot (black) wire & silver screws to the neutral (white).

The screws keeping the wires in place on the socket's terminals should be loosened in order to separate the cord. To prevent the cord from being yanked out at its base, ensure it is knotted. After that, remove the socket keyset screw and throw away the old socket, the socket shell, and it.

Cut the cable approximately 12 inches from the lamp base, slice the two conductors apart, and peel about an inch of insulation from the ends to remove the tight cord. Apply the same technique to the new cord's beginning. Twist the ends of the cord's new and old conductors together, then fold the twists flat. Wrap the splice with electrical tape. Work by removing the old cord from the fixture's top, then push on the new cord from the bottom while working the old cord through. Cut the old cord when you have enough new cord sticking out the top.

Each wire's twisted end should be bent into a clockwise loop, placed under the socket's terminal screw, and wrapped around the screw in a clockwise direction. Screw terminals firmly. The clockwise loop will pull the wire closer to the screw head as each screw is tightened. The tendency of an anticlockwise loop is to loosen the wire. Use diagonal cutters to remove the extra bare wire. Neither any loose strands nor bare wire should be visible; all insulated wire needs to be hidden underneath screw heads. Unscrew the terminals, take out the wires, and reconnect them if any exposed bare wire is visible past the screw heads.

Place the socket shell over the insulator, then place the socket over the shell and insulator. Next, secure the socket and shell into the cap. Attach a quick-clamp plug to the cord's other end. Put the cord's end in the slot on the plug's side and depress the lever at the top. If using a screw-type plug, ready the wire ends like you would for a socket screw connection before knotting them. Before tightening the bare end under the screw head, wrap each wire around the plug's prong. It is harder to lose links by pulling on a rope when there are knots and loops because they prevent wires from unintentionally touching one another.

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• Before threading the installation base of the replacement socket onto the lamp rod, remove the setscrew on the base and then tighten it.
• Each cord wire's bare end should be straightened. The isolated wires should be tightly wound together by clockwise twisting them.
• Wrap the wire end around the silver (neutral) screw terminal beginning with the neutral wire (ridged insulating) in a clockwise motion so that the insulation is on the left side of the screws. Using a screwdriver, tighten the screws firmly. The insulation should not be underneath the screw; only the bare metal end should be.
• Using the same methods, attach the hot wire (smooth insulating) to the brass screw termination.