Hey guys, I have this funky light socket I really should just replace, but Id like to fix it if I can. Deal is, when you push the bulb in it works, let it go, dont work. I cant see any way to get the fixture open, thinking about adding solder to the bulb tits, lol .. Any ideas ? Thanks as always ....
can you hook one of those little holes in the contact disk and pull out a little to stretch the spring?
How about building up the terminals on the bulb with solder?? Or maybe get a small skinny ''electrical'' soldering iron down that socket and drop a bit of solder on those pins..
like 33 said pull the leads up and then under the disc is a spring , they often loose there tension from time and heat , if you patient enough sometimes you can unwind the old spring and work a new one in there , its kind of like threading keys around the ring but with wires .
Mark, how about a trip over to Elliot's Hardware on Inwood just past Sonny Bryant's just before the bridge .....or pm me.....there is a little kit to rebuild with maybe a new spring ?
Thanks all for the replies, problem is the socket seams to be sealed, you can see where it is piened in the first picture, Ive never seen one like this before.. Not the best of solutions, and temp, but it works for now. Anyone know where I can find a replacement setup, these bulbs have no high or low, just one beam, See the bulb have the tits even, non directional. Weard ... So what I did was to use a small piece of brass tube and sleeve the bulb tits, ha ha it actually worked.
Get out the soldering gun and build up the contacts on the lamp it's self. No joke I've done many a time.
Assembly of the thing is very atypical...looks like 1920's(? ), but it takes a modernish bulb. Case and its channels for the bulb pins look fine and you describe problem as being in contact/wire/ spring area... As a start I would buy a socket or just the inner fiberboard and wire assembly from NAPA, choosing parts that fit same bulb. This gives you some bits to study for inspiration and possibly use in your repair. Start at base, perhaps, with the bakelite plug. Looks like it is held in there by rolled over tin...can you partially unroll that with a good pic and tiny screwdriver?? Seems it needs to come out one way or another.
NAPA has replacement pigtails with the spring attached,just push the old ones out and replace them. HRP
But this needs a different approach...on modern ones the innards just push out the top once bulb is out. Looks like this one has the innards connected into lower block, which could probably be rebuilt with springs from a modern set. Contacts and other special terminals can usually be rebuilt by probing to get out the wires and soldering in new wire to hook up old terminals.
http://www.riwire.com/ They might have a new socket I have found enough in Dorman or Help! kits at autozone to rebuild my old sockets.
Usually the fiber disc is held in with 2 ears that ride in the metal part. If you push down on one side by the ear with a small screwdriver that side goes down, and the other side stays up and disengages from the metal shell. Reverse to install the new one you bought from NAPA.
Bruce is right, the wires and fiber plate are crimped to the base block, and the wires and fiber are not made to come apart. Wish I could find a halogen bulb and socket that would fit the dish ..
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