Touch Lamp Adapter (screw-in) Problems

Hi All, Was hoping someone can help me w/a problem I'm having w/a screw-in type touch lamp/dimmer. The lamp I'm trying to use is a metal wall mounted swing arm lamp. The lamp has a sticker that says only 3 way bulbs of less than 150 watts should be used and that's the type of bulb I'm using. Dimang makes the screw in touch lamp dimmer. The lamp was working fine until some moved it to move a bed. After that, it didn't work at all. Tried loosening the bulb a bit which helped but if I touched the lamp too hard the lamp would go from off to dim to bright them off very rapidly repeatedly. I'm a quadriplegic and this device is a great help when it works. Any suggestions on how to fix this are greatly appreciated!

Dan snipped-for-privacy@NOSPAMoptonline.net Remove NOSPAM from address when replying

Reply to
Dan
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The body of the lamp has to be connected to the sense input on the touch adaptor ONLY. The sense input is a springy finger on the adaptor which must touch the metal shell around the bulb socket. Check to see if that's so, and correct it if it isn't touching.

You say it is a metal wall mounted lamp....

Is it mounted on an electrical box in the wall, or just fastened to the wall with a lamp cord hanging down and plugged into a wall outlet?

If it's the former mounting, then the lamp body may be grounded through its mounting screws, and AFAIK being permenantly installed, it probably HAS to be grounded to meet code. In that case there's no easy way to get the touch system to work properly, save for adding an insulated conductive sleeve around the lamp arm and connecting it to the touch adaptor's sense input after bending that input so it no longer touches the bulb socket shell. Moving the lamp to make the bed may have created continuity in a pivot joint which wasn't contacting at all "before".

If the lamp uses a regular cord plugged into an outlet, then the adaptor should do its thing, so check that the sense finger is touching where it should be first. You might also check to see if the lamp body is laquered, that can insulate a light touch enough to keep the switch from working.

Do you have exceptionally dry skin? Try licking your finger before touching the lamp and see if that helps.

Happy New Year,

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

Have you tried Cleaning it with alcohol? I had one that did something similar and all it needed was a good cleaning. Incidentally cleaning it with Fantastic and Windex made it worse.

quadriplegic

Reply to
Badger

type touch lamp/dimmer. The lamp I'm trying to use is a metal wall mounted swing arm lamp. The lamp has a sticker that says only 3 way bulbs of less than 150 watts should be used and that's the type of bulb I'm using. Dimang makes the screw in touch lamp dimmer. The lamp was working fine until some moved it to move a bed. After that, it didn't work at all. Tried loosening the bulb a bit which helped but if I touched the lamp too hard the lamp would go from off to dim to bright them off very rapidly repeatedly. I'm a quadriplegic and this device is a great help when it works. Any suggestions on how to fix this are greatly appreciated!

Dan, If you pull off the base (AFTER you have unplugged it!), you will notice a little circuit board. Try blowing that little circuit board off. The dust might actually conducting micro-volts of electricity causing it to react the way it is. Please excuse my ignorance when I ask how you are going to fix it, you stated that you are "a quadriplegic and this device is a great help when it works."(Not meant as an insult, honest!). My best suggestion would be to take it to a repair shop and let someone else deal with the headache of keeping those pesky little screws from rolling under something and having to move more furniture! Lol! Especially if that little circuit board is shot. They would have the scopes and meters to find the defective component. Mod

Reply to
ssparling

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