Due to the double contact arrangement in the bottom, three way lamps are
often not tightened adequately to make secure connection with both contacts.
This will lead to overheating and socket failure. If you will ensure that
all contacts are clean and tight you will probably solve the problem.
Don Young

"JAWs" wrote in message
...
I have a problem with a 3-way lamp. The problem started with the
contact for the higher-wattage filament not making good contact with
the bulb base, causing the lamp to flicker and the bulb to burn out
prematurely. On inspection I found that the socket contacts were
pitted, almost certainly from arcing, so I replaced the socket with a
new one I bought at an antique lamp store. That fixed the problem for
a few weeks, but soon the problem recurred. Thinking that the lamp
store might carry subpar sockets, I bought another replacement at our
local Home Depot. I got the same result - problem solved for a few
weeks. It occurred to me that I may have single-sourced the sockets -
either the lamp shop buys them from Home Depot, or they both buy them
from the same manufacturer.

Does anyone know of a high-quality brand of light sockets? Is there
any difference between brands of 3-way light bulbs that could account
for the arcing?

Thanks,

Jim Williams
Norfolk, VA