Mogul light bulb adaptor

[barry martin]

Hi Sara!

S > I have an old floor lamp with a mogul (large base) bulb as its center S > light. It takes a 3-way, and I have been putting 100/200/300 watt S > bulbs into it. The mogul bulbs are getting hard to find and a bit S > expensive, so I thought I'd save some money by buying an adaptor so I S > could put a regular bulb in the center lamp. Found one at a hardware S > store; it's ceramic, and the clerk said it was good up to 600 watts S > (is that possible?).

Sure: as long as the metal conductors and ceramic housing are manufactured to that rating. Just remember: the _adapter_ can take up to a 600W load; the _floor lamp_ itself probably cannot.

S > The adaptor fit the socket well, but when I screwed a regular-base 200 S > watt bulb into it & turned on the power - no light! S > S > Now I am trying to remove the adaptor, but it's pretty firmly seated S > in the socket and there's no way to get a grip on it. The socket is S > made of ceramic and looks old; it may be original. S > S > I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to remove the adaptor, and/or S > what I messed up that's causing it to not work correctly.

My guess is the center contact of the original socket of the floor lamp isn't sticking up far enough to contact the adapter. As you are having problems getting the adapter out if would first make sure the center conductor of the adapter is sticking up far enough. With the lamp unplugged take a small flat-blade screwdriver to pry the flat contact up a bit.

If you have or can borrow a volt-ohm meter unplug the lamp, set the VOM to "ohms" (have your friend show you how) and test for continuity. Connect one of the test leads to the one of the plug's prongs (yes, the thing normally plugged in to the wall). The other test lead goes to the socket under test. You have a roughly 50-50 chance of which plug prong goes where in the socket. It will either connect to the outside (screw part) or the center prong. If the tested plug prong goes to the screw part move that lead to the other prong.

If the plug prong and center conductor are continuous then the problem is the center conductor needs to be pryed up slightly so it contacts the base of the bulb. (We're assuming the other plug prong and the screw-part of the socket are also a continuous circuit.)

_____

[The Masked Marvel]

While the floor lamp may or may not be rated to 600W, it is likely rated for significantly more than the 250W watt rating often seen on medium base sockets (though a lamp w/ a 250W socket may be rated for less depending on its wire, shade, etc.) since Mogul based lamps tend not to be available in wattages lower than about 250W -300W.

Not sure what to suggest for removing the adaptor however, beyond tbeing sure the lamp cord is unplugged first.

[Sara]

Hi Barry,

Thanks so much for your reply. I learned a lot from it!

I raised the adaptor's center conductor a bit and still no light. Am pretty sure it is the center conductor in the old socket, since everything was working fine until the mogul bulb blew out and I decided to "save money" (!) by using the adaptor & regular bulb.

Take care, Sara

[zxcvbob]

At this point, I think I'd replace the mogul socket with a medium base socket. You can take it to a lamp and lighting shoppe and have them do it if you don't wanna try it yourself. It should be pretty cheap.

Best regards, Bob