Thomas & Betts AR135D Touch Lamp Kit

Full Overview

This touch lamp kit from Thomas & Betts is a 3 light level touch dimmer wiring kit. It's ideal for use with metal floor, table or swag lamps, single or multi bulb incandescent and halogen lamps. Use this kit to repair an old non working touch lamp or convert any standard metal base lamp. Rated for up to 200Watts and runs on 120V standard USA voltage it is UL listed and comes with a 2 year warranty.

Technical Details

- 3 light level touch dimmer wiring kit
- Create a touch lamp out of most standard metal lamps
- Repair old non working touch lamps
- Can be used to dim up to 200 watts of light (never over watt a lamp, it is a fire hazard!)
- Comes with a 2 year warranty

The dimensions that Amazon provides must be for the packaging that this device comes in. The device itself is much smaller, approximately " x 1" x 0.5". Also, it comes with all the connectors that you will need.

The old one in a 3-level touch control lamp blew out recently. Got this one as a replacement . . . and you can't find these things at the Big Box hardware or home improvement stores. Although made by a different company, it was a "drop-in" in **size** as it was the same size as the old one (but not the wiring colors . . . read on).

You MUST follow the directions! Read them CAREFULLY and hook up the color coded wires properly. While other makers of these things may use the same colors for the wires, the proper hookup of them can be different. If buying as a replacement, don't assume the color coding of the wires of this one is the same as the old one! Hook it up incorrectly and you'll "pop" it the first time you touch the lamp . . . necessitating buying another (as happened to another reviewer). Hook it up correctly, and it works quite well. I almost hooked it up wrong (copying the color coding of the old one) and was *very* glad I took a closer look at the instructions before plugging in the lamp. An inexpensive lamp repair . . . or conversion of a metal lamp to touch control . . . and the four levels are nicer than the three the original touch control had.

I installed the new devise by matching the wire colors.... bad idea.

The circuit boards were different, so of course, I zapped the first devise.

THEN I got the instructions out.... the unit works fine.

This was embarrassing because I'm a retired TV technician.

I purchased this dimmer to replace an exact same unit that had gone bad. I was pleasantly surprised that I could still get one of these units, because the one that failed was over 10 years old. The included instructions were easy to follow. Mine wired up the same as the one it was replacing. This is a good item to replace a failed unit, as was my case.

If you're going to install it new on a standard lamp, make sure you can disassemble the lamp base and have enough room to hide the dimmer inside. Many lamps should accommodate this dimmer because of its compact size.

I bought this to replace a similar 3-level touch in the bottom of a touch lamp that I wasn't willing to discard. The original device got fried when the incandescent bulb blew with the typical bright flash. It must have sent a surge back through the lamp. Peeling the felt off the lamp bottom and getting the old touch control out was fairly easy. The hardest part was getting the ground off which required manuevering some needlenose pliers down into the lamp. I labeled the wires so putting the new Lamson in was a piece of cake. Now I have a four way touch that works perfectly. The extra level over my prior 3-level allows me to adjust the lighting for nearly every situation. I'm glad I bought this. My favorite old lamp lives on and is now even better! Thanks.

**update** Lamson seems to recommend a 100W bulb for this control. I tried one and immediately noticed some erratic effects, i.e., lamp coming on when it gets jostled if only the wooden table is bumped against, etc. Dropped back to a 75W bulb and the touch control works perfectly.

We ordered a kit for each table lamp in our bedroom and they work great. The only problem we ran into was that there wasn't enough space in the base of the lamp to fit the plastic box (due to the material used to add weight to the lamp).

I believe there is a workaround for this situation that involves connecting the wires under the lampshade, but we really wanted everything hidden, so we (my husband) did some extra work and made room for the kit in the base.

The kits are tiny and should really fit most lamps, but you may want to check beforehand to see what the situation is for your lamp.

I bought this for an old lamp my wife had since the 90's. I found the instructions to be readable and understandable from the standpoint of someone who knows how to wire up stuff. If your a novice at this have someone do it for you who knows something about electricity. Otherwise remember what you took apart before you take it apart. Although the wire colors might vary, the concepts for connection are standard. It took me about 15 minutes to replace the existing touch switch. It works with 4 dim settings as opposed to the three my wifes' old switch had. I would recommend this switch highly for replacing an old touch switch or converting a lamp to touch switch.

I bought this to help a friend make a touch lamp to give as a Christmas gift. I followed the instructions provided and everything worked perfectly. The only change was that I used crimp connectors for rejoining the wires.

This touch lamp kit is very easy to install in a hollow base lamp. It took me less than 5 minutes. The touch feature works like a charm with no false operations reported in different product reviews. I installed mine in a bedside table lamp and it is great, a "homerun". It cycles thru 4 levels of illumination. Mine is installed with a standard 100 watt bulb.

I used this to fix our touch lamp that wasn't working, not to convert a lamp. You will need to be sure that if you are converting a lamp you have a large open lamp pole or that you can fit the module in the base.
With the wires coming out of the side instead of the top or bottom skinnier sides, it was much harder to fit in our lamp then the old one coming out.
I love that its now fixed as I was missing my touch lamp. Much easier and quicker then turning the knob.