How to Change the Inside Socket of a Table Lamp

When the table lamp you love fails to turn on, a functional and decorative piece of your room becomes useless. According to On The House's weekly project guide, lamps fail either because of a damaged cord or a damaged socket. If your cord and plug are in good condition, the socket must be replaced. A new socket can be installed in the comfort of your own home without costly repair service. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Unplug the lamp, then unscrew the set screw at the base of the socket, then turn the entire socket assembly counterclockwise to remove it from the lamp. Pull it away gently to give a small amount of slack on the cords without harming them.

2

Pull the top of the socket housing off of the bottom piece, revealing a smaller socket unit inside. Cut the wires near the terminals of the socket and strip half an inch of the plastic insulation from the ends.

3

Untie the knots in the wires and remove the socket cover assembly. Push the wire through the hole in the bottom of the new socket assembly base, then turn the base clockwise to secure it to the lamp. Create loose loop knots in the wires similar to the knots you untied to keep the wire from falling into the lamp body.

4

Connect the neutral wire to the silver screw and the "hot" wire to the brass screw on the bottom of the black socket piece. Depending on the cord, neutral wire may be white and the hot wire may be black or both may appear identical. If both appear identical, look at the plug at the end of the cord. If one prong is wider than the other, it is the neutral. Follow the wire on that side of the cord up to the socket and connect it to the silver screw, then connect the other wire to the brass screw.

5

Place the socket into the housing base and secure the top housing piece over the socket and onto the base. Turn the set screw at the bottom of the socket housing base clockwise to tighten it and prevent the socket from loosening when a bulb is put in or taken out.