[Joeztech]

I think the main reason the power pilot lamp in my 42-201 had trouble with the movement of the washer/rivet contact movement was that there was corrosion on the inside of the socket. The sleeve part of the socket metal may have been manufactured with a slightly undersized ID too. The combination made movement of the washer/rivet assembly almost impossible at first. Using the Scotchbrite pad and screwdriver helped clean out the inside of the sleeve and I also lengthened the spring just slightly. It took repeated effort to get the corrosion out of the inside of the sleeve area. That combined with filing down the no. 6 nylon washer eventually got it working well. For the lamp sockets at the dial, the no. 6 washers and spring worked well the first try. They had no corrosion on the inside of the lamp socket sleeve.

I think the design of the lamp sockets ultimately does not need any indentation to keep the rivet/washer/spring combination in place. The lead wire coming out the back and the insertion of the lamp will take care of that. The designers and manufacturers may have thought it was important to do, but for our purposes it does not seem necessary and in fact actually makes the repair somewhat difficult in some cases.

I like your idea of the nylon sleeve inside the metal sleeve. That definitely provides a smooth and slick surface for the washer/rivet assembly to move inside of. Teflon sleeving would be a good item to try too. Teflon and nylon are both self lubricating. Teflon of course will stand high temperatures. It just shows how combining ideas can result in a better solution to problems when we all contribute.

Joe