Mogul to standard adaptor?

[dthornton]

Okay guys, I need help. I have two antique lamps which use three-way mogul base bulbs. I need a couple of adapters from mogul to standard base. I can find “single” screw-in adapters for around $5, but I cannot locate any THREE-WAY adapters. Does anyone know where I can find some?

I an rewiring the lamps and thought about changing the socket, BUT the way the old lamps are made, there are no new three way sockets that will fit. The old three way switch and socket are large ceramic units that attach from the bottom with screws. Plus, that would devalue the antique.

As an alternate to buying pre-made adapters, I would pay someone with the skills about $10-$15 each for a couple of adapters. I thought that someone could take an old three-way bulb and remove the glass, then use two short pieces of wire and some epoxy to solder a couple of leads from the inside of the bulb base to the bottom of a bare standard socket, and then epoxy them together. If anyone would take on this project for that price, let me know. Thanks.

 

[JoeD]

https://www.ebay.com/p/Mogul-Three-...-Base/1731716363?_trksid=p2047675.m4097.l9055

 

[dthornton]

https://www.ebay.com/p/Mogul-Three-...-Base/1731716363?_trksid=p2047675.m4097.l9055

Thank you, Joe! That is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[slownsteady]

Why not add a tabletop dimmer switch and forget about three way sockets? Disclaimer: I have no idea about mogul anythings, but it sounds like a simple work-around.

 

[dthornton]

Why not add a tabletop dimmer switch and forget about three way sockets? Disclaimer: I have no idea about mogul anythings, but it sounds like a simple work-around.

Steady, they are both antique floor lamps. Mogul base is a very large screw-in base. They still use them for outdoor lights (mercury vapor - ever seen one of those bulbs?) Anyway, the Mogul bulbs are still available, although harder to find. They are usually 100 - 200 - 300W incandescent bulbs and about $10 apiece. I want to replace those with LEDs which only use maybe 5 - 15W total, but they just don’t make adapters (three way, anyway). I looked into just replacing the sockets (I’m rewiring anyway) but the original ceramic sockets are huge compared to the modern ones, and there is no way to adapt new ceramic sockets to the lamps (without a machine shop and major undertaking, anyway). So, that’s the long story. Short story is that I want 3 way LED bulbs in the lamps.

 

[nealtw]

TO USE THIS ADAPTER YOU MUST HAVE A LAMP WITH A 3-WAY MOGUL (LARGE) SOCKET AND A STANDARD SIZE BASE 3-WAY BULB.

Find this on the lower half of this page.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mogul-Thre...l-to-3-way-standard-base-/272987746883?_ul=KZ

 

[slownsteady]

Thanks, i was able to understand most of that from the first post. My suggestion was based on the info that you could replace with a standard one way socket. The tabletop dimmer was a way to get more versatility out of a standard bulb without hacking up the antique lamp. Since it is a floor lamp (I may have missed that) you could use a wall dimmer controlling an outlet. There may be other reasons that i am not aware of, but at least it's a possibility.

 

[dthornton]

TO USE THIS ADAPTER YOU MUST HAVE A LAMP WITH A 3-WAY MOGUL (LARGE) SOCKET AND A STANDARD SIZE BASE 3-WAY BULB.

Find this on the lower half of this page.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mogul-Thre...l-to-3-way-standard-base-/272987746883?_ul=KZ

Both floor lamps are Mogul base, three way fixtures. Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Amazon all carry three way standard base LED bulbs.

I ordered the adapters, and they were delivered today. Haven’t been home yet, but I’ll let you know how they check out.

 

[dthornton]

Guys, I hope these photos showed up (I’m Still learning!) The first picture is of one of my antique floor lamps (both have three way sockets). The second photo is a close up view of the socket, adapter, and LED three way bulb. The third photo: On the left is a “Mogul” base three way bulb (this was the standard size back in the day. Many antique lamps have this size base. They are still used for the outdoor quartz-iodine bulbs). In the middle is the adapter. These guys do a really good job, for “homemade” - it looks like a professionally produced adapter. On the right is a “Standard” based three-way LED bulb. This base is the most common base used today. I hope this sheds some light on the subject (no pun intended).