Scorched Lamp Socket
Most of the time when I change out lamp sockets around the house it is because the switch mechanism has gone kaput.
It baffles me why even expensive table lamps do not seem to come equipped with anything but the same cheap universal made-in-OutSourceStan lamp socket which has the service lifespan of a goldfish.
But this particular lamp socket really caught my attention because,as it happened, I was in the room when the lamp began to arc and smoke and make nasty electric death rattle noises right there on the end table next to the couch.
Hardly more than five years old-plus or minus a few years- you can see the contact tab for the bulb base is completely gone and the scorch marks on the cardboard liner testify to the heat and flame that could easily have spread had the lamp been unattended when the socket booked passage across the River Styx.
Given the number of news reports that attribute the same boilerplate quote to every Fire Investigator “The fire appears to have begun in an electrical fixture” this is not an uncommon event.
If you witness an incident of this type it will sure make a believer out of you for higher quality replacement sockets.
I traveled to my local lamp store and picked up one of their top-of-the line, expensive ($7.00) electronic replacement lamp sockets to see if it would be an improvement over the stock hardware store el cheapo replacement socket.
Stay tuned. I will post regular updates as they occur.
Click Thumbnail for Hi Resolution Image
Kattermann's Handyman Blog 