Repairing Touch Dimmer Lamps

Unplug your touch lamp from the electrical socket. Set the lamp on a clean, dry, level surface. Wipe the lamp down with a dust remover. Loosen the shade and bulb from the lamp and set aside.

Loosen and remove the base plate from the lamp, depending on how it was attached. For instance, the plates are glued, snapped on or secured with screws, depending on the model. Remove the screws with a screwdriver or peel the plate off carefully.

Locate the lamp’s sensor or a small plastic square box that's white or black. The sensor has four wires -- white, yellow, black and red or gray. All the wires except yellow are connected to the lamp wires.

Remove the touch sensor to make way for the replacement sensor. Untwist the wire connectors securing the red or gray, white and black wires to the lamp’s wire. Remove the wires and set aside. Also remove the nut securing the yellow wire to the nipple at the base of the lamp.

Identify the pair of wires extending from the base of the lamp to the plug. One of these wires is ribbed while the other is smooth. Wind an orange connector onto the smooth wire and the black wire from the replacement touch sensor to join them together. Extend the yellow wire from the sensor to the nipple and tighten the nut to secure in place.

Connect the ribbed wire leading from the plug and the ribbed wire from the lamp socket to the touch sensor’s white wire by twisting an orange wire connector over them. Also twist an orange wire connector over the gray wire and the smooth wire from the lamp.

Replace the base plate over the lamp, the bulb and shade. Plug the lamp into the outlet and turn it on to test.