How to Rewire an Antique Table Lamp

Maybe you have an antique table lamp that no longer works, but you can't bear to part with it for sentimental or other reasons. It is possible to put an antique table lamp back into working order, so you can show off your memento or heirloom. Long periods of inactivity, such as storage in a basement or attic, will often mess up the wiring in an antique table lamp.

Rewiring or other repairs will be necessary. It may take a little time, especially if you'll need to learn everything from scratch, but if you want to put the life back in your lamp, that's a small sacrifice. To start with, take the whole antique table lamp apart and organize the pieces.

Make sure you keep all the screws and store them somewhere where you can easily get to them later. Next, wipe all the dust off of each part of the antique table lamp with a freshly cleaned cloth. Don't use a wet cloth because that could encourage corrosion on the antique table lamp. At this point, you'll need a wiring kit, which you may or may not have, depending on whether or not you routinely rewire old fixtures.

Remove the wiring system already installed in the antique table lamp. For the safety of you and your family, get rid of it. Don't keep it, and don't set it aside, as you might accidentally mistake it for serviceable wire at a later date. To take out the wires, strip and twist them in a clockwise direction. Be careful not to scratch and blister your hands. Use a wire twister if possible.

Now take the new wires and thread them into the middle shaft of your antique table lamp, and then secure the socket unit. Thread until the wires are out of the base of the lamp. Connect the new wires to the antique table lamp's circuitry and once again twist in a clockwise manner. When you're done, use electrical tape to cover the wires and make sure they're secure.

Put a light bulb into your antique table lamp and test the connection to see if it's rewired safely and correctly. Replace the antique table lamp's shade only after you're sure that you don't see any sparks or any other signs of bad wiring.

It's not a difficult task to rewire an antique table lamp, and when you're done you have your treasured lamp ready for use once again. You may also like to re-varnish your antique table lamp if it's wooden, or wipe it down if it's ceramic. Either way, I hope you'll soon be able to display it proudly, back in great shape.