LESLIE: Judy in California has a lamp that’s acting up. Tell us about this tricky lamp.
JUDY: Oh, hi. Yes. I have a real antique table lamp; real heavy brass and real glass-heavy shape. And the cord that’s on it is a – it has a switch about halfway down on the cord; one of those roller switches.
TOM: Right. Right.
LESLIE: OK.
JUDY: You roll it forward for “on” and roll it back for “off.”
TOM: OK.
JUDY: And when I roll it on, it comes on OK but then it comes off just without touching it, all the time. And in order to get it back on, I just kind of bend the cord and stick it under a book or something and then it stays on and …
TOM: That’s a really bad idea, Judy.
LESLIE: Yeah.
TOM: That’s a really bad idea. You have a short in that cord or in the switch and bending it and sticking it under a book is basically like lighting a match and sticking in the kindling. So, don’t do that; that’s dangerous, alright?
JUDY: OK. Oh.
TOM: Because that could catch on fire.
LESLIE: But you can …
TOM: But it’s an easy fix. Take that to a hardware store and let them replace the switch for you. It’s not that hard to do.
LESLIE: It’s not that difficult. They can even just rewire that whole cord and it won’t be expensive. It’s something that can be easily done, whether you bring it to a lamp-repair shop or a local handyman/hardware-type store. It’s an easy project.
JUDY: Uh-huh. OK. So just the switch or the switch and the cord, huh?
LESLIE: It’s probably going to be the cord has to be replaced, because the switch is in line to the cord.
JUDY: Right, right.
LESLIE: They’ll have to look at it but it’s definitely a short somewhere.
JUDY: So it’s dangerous like that, right?
LESLIE: Yeah.
TOM: It’s very dangerous. That’s right. You do – you want to replace it. Stop using the lamp, unplug it and get that cord replaced, OK?
JUDY: Alright. Thank you. I will.
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