Tutorial #4 – How to wire a metal light bulb socket

tutorial 5_1
Here at Creative Cables we have more than 150 different models of cloth covered wire, available in various shapes, materials and, above all, in all sorts of colors! However, to create lamps and lighting designs that are truly unique and creative, we are also dedicated to all the lamp parts and lighting components that, together with the cable, make up your lamp. That's why on our site you can find more than 100 different lamp holder light sockets. That means that you'll have plenty of options to find a socket that matches the style you want, as well as your favorite cloth covered wire.

Just like our fabric cables, our lampholder light socket kits (kits come with a socket cover and the internal light socket) are available in many different varieties of colors and materials: from classic ceramic light sockets to colorful silicone socket cover models, from the sleek and modern Scandinavian style design of our wood sockets to simple thermoplastic ones. And althought our e26 thermoplastic light socket may be simple it also works perfectly, as most of our light socket kits are made up of an external light socket cover and are then matched with this as the internal light socket that the bulb screws into. Understanding how to put together the basic thermoplastic light socket is therefore important because it is a process that you'll need to do if you purchase most of our light socket kits in hopes of making your own diy pendant light kit or plugin pendant light!

In this tutorial, we will see how to wire our light socket that comes with our metal light socket cover.

The first thing to do is to disassemble the light bulb socket, separating all of its components, as you can see in the first photo. As we have already shown in the tutorial on how to connect a simple light socket, you will want to make sure that the top part of the strain relief is unscrewed and the cloth wire is inserted through the hole. Then you will thread the cloth wire through the hole in the top of the metal light socket cover. Now you need to make sure that the bottom part of the strain relief (the part with the four different "branches" that can be bent) is screwed into the top of the black thermoplastic light socket.

*It's important to note here that you should already have the black thermoplastic light socket separated into three different pieces; The top with the hole that the bottom of the strain relief attaches to, the bottom that is smooth and has a large opening at the top and bottom, and the interior middle part where you screw in the wires. You will receive this thermoplastic socket in a box with the metal socket cover. It should be easy to unscrew, however sometimes the socket has been tightened and will not untighten unless you do the following. To separate a locked light socket you need to unlock the anti-loosening mechanism that is built inside the socket. To do this, simply press down the metal tab that is on the inside side of the socket by using a screwdriver and twisting slowly until it has passed the plastic block on the body of the lampholder. It may take you doing this 3-5 times before it is completely unlocked an easily unscrews.

Now back to the how to wire a lamp light socket instructions. Insert the cut & stripped cable (you remember how to strip a fabric cable, right?) into the cable retainer, in the hole of the metal cap and in the back of the bulb holder, in that order. Next, just thread the exposed copper wire into the holes of the terminals (one on each side) and screw them in tight with a screwdriver.
Push interior part of the light socket (the part you just wired up) back into the top of the top part of the light socket. It will fit flush into the top of the socket, you may need to twist it some until you have it fitting just right. Now screw in the smooth plastic bottom part of the light socket into the top part of the light socket. You have now done all the hard work - pat yourself on the back.
The only last task left is to fit the outer metal socket cover over the internal thermoplastic light socket! To do this, just push the thermoplastic socket into the metal socket cover. The bottom part of the strain relief will go through the hole in the metal socket cup. (Note sometimes it can be hard to do this as the four prongs will not want to fit through the hole. What we often do is use a little tape to put around just the top prongs and insert it through the hole. Then we take the tape off.) All you have to do now is screw the top part of the strain relief onto the bottom threaded part of the strain relief. This makes sure that the everything is secure and makes sure that the socket is secured to the cloth wire. (Which is important because you don't want the two internal wires that are screwed into the internal socket to be holding all of the weight if you use a pendant light shade.)

Voila! You are done and have just wired your own light socket with metal light socket cover.
For this project today we used a plastic conical strain relief. But you aren't just limited to this. We have hundreds of lamp parts and lighting supplies, and that includes many different types of strain reliefs. We make metal strain reliefs in many colors and lenghts as well as plastic round cylinder shapped cable retainer strain reliefs. Those type of strain reliefs have a slightly different way to connect them to the light socket, but have no fear: even for those, the procedure for installing the light socket kit will be easy. The only difference will be in how to tighten the strain relief and adding a simple screw in tube. We’ll show you how to do that in another tutorial!

All clear? Did you finish the job or were there any difficulties? Let us know in the comments, and, as always, let us know which tutorials you'd like to see next!
Posted on 2017-07-07 Tutorial

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