I tried to replace a socket on a small lamp. As far as I can tell I did the basic steps correctly - connecting the wires to the correct screws. Pictures below
When I replaced the cover and tried plugging it in it blew a fuse.
Any ideas of what could cause that or what to be checking?
Great! That's what we're here for! Yah, Jim!
Here's the way a rotary switch with 3 connections works. The hot lead is connected correctly but you've connected the neutral to the black screw. That's the screw that feeds power to the bottom light. When you turned the switch it shorted the hot to neutral causing the breaker to trip. It's a bit confusing but brass and black are usually if not always hot. A black wire in house wiring is hot, white is neutral. So if you connected the neutral (ribbed wire) to the nickel terminal the switch would work properly depending on the logic of the switch. I.E. ...Off - On (top lamp) - On (Both lamps) - On (bottom lamp) - Off. In some the 3rd position is omitted.
Good luck and a two terminal socket would be easier to deal with.
Thanks for the insights! The lamp is intended to be dimmable and I was using a dimmable bulb. That being said I don't need it to be dimmable and the original socket did only have the two screws. I'll try to find a socket with just the two terminals and try that.