Faulty lamp / double socket?

[RaoulDuke]

Hi, I am not an electrician so apologies if this is not where I should be seeking advice but I struggled to find anywhere else to ask.

We have a floor lamp which has been plugged into a double socket in out living room for the last 6 months. Suddenly a few weeks ago it abruptly stopped working. We changed the bulb and this didnt fix it. We then plugged hte lamp into a different socket on the other side of the room and it worked fine.

Now thinking that we had a faulty plug socket we tested this by plugging in other devices, the hoover, laptop and phone chargers, a desk lamp. But all of these worked fine in this socket. It seems that it is just this one lamp will not work in this particular socket. (Wont work in either in the couble socket).

Has anyone ever heard of this? If this is an explantion and potential fix I would be very grateful.

Thanks

 

[telectrix]

try a new plug on the lamp.

 

[RaoulDuke]

Ok, I can try that but don't understand the logic. The current plug on the lamp works when plugged into other sockets.

Just very confused at this situation!

 

[Richard Burns]

You may find that the socket connections are slightly expanded (or possibly folded over) and so will only work when a plug is put in in a specific way and it happens that the other plugs were put in that way.
It is also possible that the lamp plug has some corrosion or insulation on it that is just where the socket sprung conductors touch.
Have you tired the lamp again in the socket now that other things are working in it, there may have been a bit of dirt on the contacts of the socket or the switch that has now been "cleaned" off by inserting plugs.