Don't throw the old lamp away. Rewire it.
Rather than throwing away that old two light lamp, restore the lamp by rewiring it, extending its life. Some of the most common issues when a lamp quits working are damaged wiring or damaged sockets. No prior electrical wiring knowledge is necessary when repairing your two light lamp. Once you have gotten the hang of repairing a lamp, you can turn old flea market and garage sale finds into treasures.
Instructions
1. Unplug your lamp from the wall and move it to a sturdy work surface. Remove the lamp harp, the light bulbs and the lamp shade.
2. Peel away the felt or cardboard that covers the wiring inside the base of the lamp. Set the felt or cardboard aside.
3. Pull the socket sleeves from the sockets to expose the interior sockets and wiring. Loosen the screws on both sides of the sockets and remove the wires from beneath the screws to release the interior socket. Loosen the set screw holding the socket base onto the throat of the lamp and untwist the socket base from the lamp and discard all parts of the old sockets.
4. Disconnect the wires in the base of the lamp by untwisting the wire connectors holding the wiring together and pulling the lamp wires apart.
5. Measure and cut two lengths of lamp cord to fit your lamp. Tape the new lamp cords to the old lamp cords at the top of the lamp using electrical tape. Grasp the lamp cords in the base of the lamp and pull them from the lamp. As you pull the old lamp cord from the lamp you are threading the new lamp cords into the lamp. Remove the electrical tape from the lamp cords and discard the old lamp wires.
6. Grasp the old plug and cord from the exterior of the lamp and pull it from the base of the lamp. Thread a replacement cord set through the hole in the lamp base. A replacement cord set consist of a prestripped lamp cord with the plug connected.
7. Slice through 3 inches of the membrane holding the two wires of the lamp cord together using a utility knife inside the base of the lamp. A lamp cord consists of two wires fused together with a thin membrane of rubber insulation that encapsulates both wires. Strip the ends of the lamp wires using a wire cutter/stripper and removing 3/4 inch of insulation from each lamp wire.
8. Feel the two wires from the lamp cord. One wire feels smooth down the entire length of the cord while the other wire feels ribbed down the entire length. Twist an orange wire connector onto the smooth wire from the replacement cord set and the two smooth wires from the lamp throat, connecting them. Repeat this connection for the three ribbed wires.
9. Thread the two lamp cords at the top of the lamp through the replacement socket bases. Screw the replacement socket bases onto the lamp and tighten the set screws holding the socket bases in place.
10. Tie a knot in each lamp cord to avoid having the cord pulled from the socket base. Separate and strip the lamp cord as you did in a previous step.
11. Wrap the smooth wires around the brass screws on the side of the interior replacement sockets. Wrap the ribbed wires around the silver screws on the opposite side of the replacement sockets. Tighten the screws to secure the lamp wires onto the interior sockets.
12. Slide the exterior socket sleeves over both replacement interior sockets, pushing them down firmly into the socket base. Glue the felt or cardboard back to the bottom of the base of the lamp and allow the glue to dry. Replace the lamp harp, light bulbs and lamp shade.
Tags: lamp cord, base lamp, from lamp, lamp cords, lamp wires