How can you tell if a socket?

Question

is designed for a 3 way light bulb or a on off light bulb.

Answer 1

A 3 way socket has 2 circuits, one contact for each in the center of the socket. the threads of the socket are the neutral contact.

Answer 2

Im guessing ...that you mean how do you discern if a light fixture is designed for a bulb that uses 3 different wattages (i.e. 50 watt, 100 watt, or 150 watt), or a standard light bulb, which will have only one wattage... and this could be anything from 25, to 500 watts. I will also assume that the light socket has a 'rotating' switch, as opposed to a 'sliding' off/on switch.

First... Look for the "maximum watts" label. Most lamps will have a label somewhere near the socket, which states how much the maximum recommended watts are, for that fixture... for example... a label might say... "Do not exceed 60 Watts maximum". 60 watts, is probably, the most common recommendation on lamp fixtures, with a simple on-off switch.

Second approach... put a standard bulb (60 watts would be a good choice) in the fixture. If the light fixture is designed for a 3 variable bulb... the switch will rotate twice, thru the 'on' position, before turning off. If the lamp is a standard off/on...then the light will shut off at the first rotation of the switch.

I would recommend that you do NOT stick your finger in the socket, hehehe.

Hope this helped.

Answer 3

What are you calling a 3 way light socket? or 3 way light bulb?

Answer 4

A regular light bulb ("on/off" style) won't fit a 3-way socket. The 3-way is about 3/16" larger diameter than a standard light socket.

Answer 5

put a bulb in that you know is a on off one an cut the lamp off an turn on if it takes two clicks to turn on it is a three way lamp.