Full House
Williams, 1966Williams Full House (1966) project.
I had a bulb that would only light up if I moved it around a bit, so I tried using Steve Young's socket cleaner stick. Now the socket blows the fuse to the back box lights every time I turn a bulb into the socket.
I've been troubleshooting with a circuit breaker to save money on fuses, but even without a bulb in the socket the breaker lets go and the back box lights go out after a few minutes.
How could I have screwed up? 
Thanks for any ideas.
It sounds like the socket itself is shorted out.
Check the inside of the socket from the front. There is a small coiled spring that acts as the center post on this type of socket. If this spring-post got badly bent from the cleaning stick, it may be touching the side wall of the socket, which would cause a short and blow the fuse.
Also, look for any metal debris down in the bottom of the socket that may be shorting the center post to the side wall.
If that isn't it, check the back side of the socket. It may be that the solder tabs of the socket have gotten bent such that the socket is shorting out.
- TimMe
I wrote that I'd check the socket tonight, but then I remembered I took pictures to see if I could spot something that I couldn't see with my glasses on. 
Quoted from TimMe:Check the inside of the socket from the front. There is a small coiled spring that acts as the center post on this type of socket. If this spring-post got badly bent from the cleaning stick, it may be touching the side wall of the socket, which would cause a short and blow the fuse.
Do these types of sockets have the small coiled spring?
Screen Shot 2016-08-25 at 9.15.56 AM (resized).png
I did notice that the left side of the socket is missing the solder joint. Looks like it fell off. I'm guessing that this is why the bulb would only light when I moved it around, but I'm not sure if that can cause a fuse to blow.
DSC04976 (resized).JPGDSC04977 (resized).JPG
Here's a pic of a functioning socket. I don't see much difference besides the missing solder.
DSC04978 (resized).JPG
no spring. just that brass tab.
lift the left side wire up so it does not touch, and start a game and see if fuse blows again.
also, may want to look under the wire bundle for that solder blob. it may have fallen onto something.???
your issue may be elsewhere...
follow the wires around from end to end and look for anything metal touching one of the wires.
also, chk the rest of the sockets on that line.
if the fuse blows after a while, it is prob not a short, but an overload on that circuit.
take a couple bulbs out, and replace that one you are questioning, and try it again.
My bad, I was thinking it was a different kind of socket. Obviously, this socket has no spring. Sorry about that.
As EMsInKC suggested, just remove the socket from the game and see if that fixes your shorting problem. If it does, then replace the socket. If the shorting problem is still there, at least you will know it's not from that socket!
- TimMe
Quoted from Dr_of_Style:lift the left side wire up so it does not touch, and start a game and see if fuse blows again.
I removed a couple of staples and turned on the game.
After a few minutes the fuse breaker blew. If I removed one wire from the socket does that eliminate it from the circuit? Or do I have to completely remove the socket to keep it from causing a short?
The frustrating part is that I did not have this problem until I tried cleaning this socket. 
Until then, the backbox lights weren't a problem at all.
Lifting the wire the way you did was all you needed to do to eliminate the socket as the source of the problem. Your lamp breaker is tripping for some other reason.
Before the problem started, were you using the breaker, or was there a fuse in the holder? Are you sure the breaker is rated high enough to handle the continuous current draw of the backbox lamps? When a breaker consistently blows after several minutes of use, the first thing I suspect is that the breaker is slightly overloaded, and it is just taking a while for it to get hot enough to trip.
- TimMe
Quoted from TimMe:Lifting the wire the way you did was all you needed to do to eliminate the socket as the source of the problem. Your lamp breaker is tripping for some other reason.
Before the problem started, were you using the breaker, or was there a fuse in the holder? Are you sure the breaker is rated high enough to handle the continuous current draw of the backbox lamps? When a breaker consistently blows after several minutes of use, the first thing I suspect is that the breaker is slightly overloaded, and it is just taking a while for it to get hot enough to trip.
- TimMe
I agree and if it's taking a bit of time to blow the fuse I wouldn't think it's a direct short as it would blow straight away.
Another possibility is maybe when moving a few cables around it has caused a wire in the light circuit to become loose and not a good connection, thus bumping up the current enough to blow the fuse.
Just a thought.
Quoted from TimMe:Before the problem started, were you using the breaker, or was there a fuse in the holder?
There was a fuse. I've only been using the breaker while trying to work out this problem. It didn't occur to me that my breaker is rated at 5 amps and it's slowly blowing because it's in a 10 amp slot.
I think I'll put the correct fuse back in place and see if it blows with the socket in question eliminated from the circuit. If the fuse doesn't blow, then I'm guessing that the socket just needs to be replaced.
Does this sound right?
It wont hurt to change it. however, there is not a lot in that socket, before changing it, "assuming it is not falling apart", try soldering that loose leg back on, and install a bulb, it will prob work fine.
Sounds good to me. And yes, your chronic breaker tripping problem was absolutely caused by having a 5-amp breaker in a 10-amp circuit.
- TimMe
I dropped in the correct fuse, and it didn't blow when I turned on the machine. Played a game and all was good. The 5 amp breaker wasn't the problem, it was just doing what it was supposed to do. My logic was the culprit. Good call, TinyMe.
I then tried jumping the socket to the wire, and the fuse didn't blow when I powered the Full House up.
DSC04989 (resized).JPG
So I installed a bulb, which came to life and didn't flicker during a game. I think I'll take the Dr's advice and try to solder the wire back where it belongs.
Thanks for everyone's input. Helped a lot and I learned a lot, too.
Quoted from TimMe:Hey, that's MISTER TinyMe. Anyway, glad you got it fixed!
Whoops. Damn autocorrect...
Thanks, again.
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