How to Install a Keyless Lamp Socket

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Things You'll Need

  • Phillips or slotted screwdriver

  • Wire cutter/stripper

Keep your lamp functional by installing a new socket.

Installing a keyless lamp socket on your lamp removes the ability to turn the lamp off and on at the socket, as it does not contain a switch. This is helpful when replacing a socket on a touch lamp, a lamp with a switch in the base or a lamp plugged into a wall outlet that operates from a light switch across the room. Learning to replace a keyless socket gives you the knowledge to install a lamp socket on any incandescent lamp in your home.

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Step 1

Pull or twist the exterior plastic or brass socket sleeve from the base of the keyless lamp socket to expose the interior socket and terminal screws.

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Step 2

Remove the interior socket from the keyless base by lifting it out of the base. Set the interior keyless socket aside.

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Step 3

Thread the two wires from your lamp base though the hole in the bottom of the keyless socket base. Twist the base onto the threaded nipple at the top of the lamp base.

Step 4

Secure the socket base to the nipple by turning the setscrew located on the throat of the socket base. This keeps the socket from slowly loosening over time.

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Step 5

Tie the two lamp wires in a loose overhand knot to avoid having the wires pulled from the socket.

Step 6

Feel the two wires in order to identify the hot wire and the neutral wire. The hot wire feels smooth, while the neutral wire has small ridges running along the length of the wire.

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Step 7

Trim the ends of the lamp wires, and remove 3/4-inch of the rubber insulation from the trimmed ends with a wire cutter/stripper.

Step 8

Wrap the smooth, hot wire around the brass colored screw on the interior keyless socket you removed earlier. Wrap the neutral, ridged wire around the silver colored screw on the socket. Turn both screws clockwise to tighten them, securing the lamp wires to the interior socket.

Step 9

Slide the exterior plastic or brass socket sleeve over the interior socket. Push or twist the sleeve into the keyless socket base.

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