That $12 thrift store lamp taught me about wiring the hard way

I found this old brass lamp at a Goodwill for $12 and thought it would look great in my reading nook. Plugged it in at home and nothing happened, so I figured the cord was just old or something. Took it apart to rewire it and almost shocked myself when I touched the socket because the switch was still hot. Turns out someone had rigged the wiring backwards inside the base and it was a fire hazard waiting to happen. Spent another $8 on a new lamp kit from the hardware store and fixed it proper, but now I always test everything with a multimeter first. Has anyone else grabbed a bargain from a thrift store that ended up being more trouble than it was worth?

3 comments

3 Comments

richardrodriguez7d ago

Whoa, hold up. I gotta disagree a little bit. A $12 lamp that just needed a new cord and a socket swap is still a win in my book. You learned a valuable lesson about checking polarity and the thing works fine now. IMO, that's a cheap education, not a headache.

richard_roberts807d ago

Those old lamp kits bypass the switch, not just reverse polarity.

brianellis7d ago

Picked up a similar deal once and just swapped the socket and cord for a few bucks. Still runs fine years later.