Lamp Fix

Our living room lamp finally gave up after about a month of steady complaints. The foot switch started to get sticky and unreliable. You'd step on the switch, it might or might not turn on the lamp. Over the weekend, it finally stopped working completely.

I opened the switch case to investigate. Sure enough, when I pressed it the telltale click was silent. I removed the switch and set out to the local hardware store with my youngest son "to do some very important business for our family". The only push button switch they had was too big to fit the case. The man behind the counter suggested a couple of locations to try.

I went back to the car, thinking about the goose chase that often accompanies small part chasing. I pulled the switch out and started to fiddle with it. After about five minutes, I got it to click again. After a few more minutes, it started to click consistently. My son and I headed back home.


The lamp shines again. The lesson learned is to spend a bit more time with the actual part trying to make it work before heading out to "fix" it. This fix may not be permanent, but it's the place to start on the road to repair.