Oftentimes the center insulator has shrank, so you probably should not solder to the lug, but solder directly to the nipple itself on the top.

What is this vaseline spray you speak of?

I usually use the end of a dowel that is covered by a cotton rag. I usually soak the tip of the rag covered dowel in something like 95% alcohol and "ream" it around inside the light socket to clean.

If the socket is still problematic then the issue is usually the connection of the lamp's center conductor as Vid mentioned. You can notice the center connection's solder lug doesn't directly connect to the center connection nipple on the lamp. The current has to pass through the lug, through a brass/copper rivet, and onto a spring-loaded armature that makes contact with the lamp's center nipple.

Conducting through all those things are often the problem. Dirt/corrosion or a shrunken insulator.

The fix is to connect the lamp's power connection from the normal solder lug directly onto to the center conductor armature. Me? I usually just solder a short pigtail wire from the center solder lug onto the center conductor itself. Some folks desolder the wire and remove it from the lug and move it to the center conductor instead.
That usually fixes defective sockets.

Your cleaning method is pretty good. Me? I'd rather just buy a new socket(s).

CLR does a pretty decent job with about a 15 second dip (mixed 50/50 with water, and then rinsed). A Q-tip soaked in it can also be used to spot clean sockets without removing them. I've been able to resurrect 'dead' sockets with a quick dip/rinse (due to the corrosion, not due to the insulator wafer swelling). As always, YMMV.

CLR

Would this harm the insulator? Alternatively, would evapo-rust harm the insulator?

Often, the "lug" is loose because the little fiber insulation washer has shrunk (if the lug can spin, you know it's loose).

So, soldering directly to the tip itself will make the socket much more reliable.

old socket.jpg

+1 on the CLR with q-tip method. Did this for the Comet I'm working on and it worked better than I could have imagined. Only question is whether or not future issues will develop on the contacts, since the stuff is pretty caustic. You also don't need to use much of it at all, and it stinks so you want to do it somewhere with some ventilation.

CLR can get off any scale but can also eat into the zinc coatings pretty quickly. Also try MetalRescue or EvapoRust to remove all the rust; they can tolerate being left in that stuff a lot longer, but not too long otherwise, as with CLR, can start to blacken. (I prefer the consistency and performance of EvapoRust a bit better but both are good)
evap.jpgmetalrescue.jpg

I wasn't quite sure what you meant earlier either. Thanks for the photo--it makes more sense now.

Can you pop out the lug and replace the washer? Or does the lug not come out with a quick tug?

Nope. It's all pressed together. You'd destroy the socket getting a new fiber washer in there.

I have a Dremel with a cylindrical grinding tip that I use to clean up the inside. I then do what Vid does and solder the single wire to the nipple and the socket base to the support arm. Sometimes you have to squeeze the socket to get a tight fit. I'm guessing the newer lamp bases are --><-- this much smaller than the older GE lamp sockets in the past.

if the fiber washers shrink over time, maybe soaking them will make them swell up a bit which in this case might be good.

Unless you have a bunch of bad sockets in a game, once you go to the trouble of removing the socket completely, I'd just put a new one in. They aren't that expensive.

No, it's a rivet, and the washer is make of Bakelite, so it would crumble if you mess with it.

New sockets are so cheap, it is not worth a lot of effort to save them.

Moving the lug is easy enough.

Some of us are want to be frugal (positive spin of 'cheap') and salvage where possible, especially if intentionally collecting on low-price level EM's.

I was wondering this too. Is Super Glue conductive/flammable once dry? Would trying to get that insulating washer to soak up as much Super Glue as possible, letting it dry, both cause it to swell in general, and then rely on the super glue to both prevent it from shrinking and otherwise adhere to both metal surfaces?

In my Camelot and Harvest, most sockets are dim due to the main socket cylinder being too lose, which moving the wire to the nipple doesn't solve (of course I've had to do that too though for plenty of sockets). If the washer could swell up and stay that way permanently, could it avoid having to solder the socket cylinder to the base?

The washer is just on the tip nipple.

The cylinder is press fit into the base stem.

I was worrying that as I typed it out. Shoot.

I just use a dremel tool with a wire brush. Takes 2-3 seconds per socket with no desoldering. I believe the center contact rivet issue is more due to the spring losing tension than the fiber washers shrinking. The fiber washer shrinking would cause poor contact with the outer housing/grounded bracket instead. I have all the parts to rebuild these sockets (from Lionel trains parts inventory) but it is not worth the time compared to the cost to just buy new ones

What dremel bit are you using for rust removal?

Both are trouble, but you know the washer has shrunk when the lug can be turned.

On new sockets, the lug usually bends or breaks if you try to spin the lug to a different position.

Just a wire brush. It is about 1/8" - 3/16" diameter with the wire about 1/4" long protruding from the end.

The only number I can find for the wire brush is #443

682846_300.jpg

This 1/4" works great and can not get hung in the spring.

Don't bother looking for #443 in your Lowe's or Home Depot, you won't find them there. Have to order online.

These work fine when put in a battery power drills' chuck.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/77-SCS

detail.jpg

Amen! My time is worth more than the $1 it would cost to replace the socket. I give a bum socket a once-over with some fine sandpaper and then with the "eraser" that PBR sells. If that doesn't fix it, it's new socket time!

I have a parts vibrator which I found to work very well on light sockets.

Walnut chips... Pet store..

Works great on the bulbs too.

Is it true Pin-it that the friction from the walnut shells actually illuminates the globes-err I mean bulbs?

Not to my knowledge,not unless they contain a microwave magnetron.

where do you get new sockets cheap. All the ones I see are 1-3$ each.

$1 sounds pretty cheap to me!

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062369#

(6-Pack)
Model: 272-355 | Catalog #: 272-355
Price:
$1.99
Supposedly these are a "ba9s" socket holder, not an E-10 as listed.
Best to go look at them in store.

http://www.pbresource.com/sockets.html

On the "special when lit" page he had some generic sockets that were something like .25 each. I bought some, and the construction quality is fine.

Were you able to get solder to stick to them?

Lately, it seems like everything at Radioshack is made of some non solderable metal......

Yeah, I only saw $1 once or twice a while back. Now it is >2$ which I think is way to much considering that you need 20-40 of them most likely to redo some of those beaten $500 machines. $3 each is a no go for me. $.25c each and I will replace most of them.

What are you talking about? PBR sells most of their sockets for under a dollar each, unless it's some kind of a specialty socket.

Good not just me with some recently made stuff! I had that problem with these: (leaf switch adapters for microswitch pushbuttons to retain most of a leaf feel). I tried a 160 watt double barrel soldering iron and could not get any solder to stick for more than a little bit, even after it turned the metal dark yellow/brown. No clue what it's made of, had to switch to spade connectors.
rollie-leaf-switch-for-pushbutton.jpg

Those are flush sockets, generally used for GI - they get stapled through the solder lugs.

Those Radio Shack sockets are about as cheaply made as can be. Much rather stick with what Steve sells as they come straight from the original manufacture that has made sockets for the pinball industry for tons of years now.

I Guess I am in the minority here. Unless a socket is falling apart, I don't replace it. I have never had an issue just soldering the wire to the back of the spring loaded center pin, and soldering the body to the bracket. Then give it a quick spin of the sanding stick that PBR sells and I am done. It may not be pretty, but it works.

I take a small triangular needle file and clean a small area adjoining the bracket and body. Use a standard solder station (turned all the way up to its highest setting - 790F) and apply a small amount of solder.

With the playfield flipped over, it doesn't take more than about 15 minutes to do a standard EM playfield. Slightly longer if it has any Bonus Light rails on it that have to be unscrewed for access.

I realize that some of you disassemble every single piece and shine up all the brackets to make them look like new again, but me, I would rather be playing pinball than polishing. Once fixed, no one really sees the underside of my pins anyway.

Now why did I not think of that. Thks for the very obvious (but not to me) tip.

I've used them before ( never in a drill) and they sort of work but I always thought they should be thicker in diameter to match the size of the socket better.