I moved into a new home that has a 4 foot long fluorescent fixture on the kitchen ceiling. I need to replace one of the two straight fluorescent tubes that is flickering. But I don't have a clue how to remove the plastic cover, or diffuser, or lens, or whatever you call it. I'm afraid to force it because it's cheap plastic and I might break it.
Is there a trick to this? I've never done this before. TIA.
I've seen a lot of different kinds. The method of removal depends on the kind of fitting.
Peerce
On 12/04/04 06:22 pm Steven Litvintchouk tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:
On 12/4/2004 6:22 PM US(ET), Steven Litvintchouk took fingers to keys, and typed the following:
Most of them have little tabs built into the diffuser that hook into the side of the fixture. Look for them. If you find them it's just a matter of squeezing the diffuser sides to unhook them.
Look you will find the way , but more importantly replace both bulbs, and at HD they have different color - Kelvin avalaible. For a kitchen you do not want a grey workshop light but a nice warm color, makes a Big difference
Do your best. If you break the plastic, replacements are available at HD/Lowes for less than $5.00.
You might want to replace the thing anyway.
Steven, Is the fixture (and diffuser) flush with the ceiling?
TIA I had the same problem as you. I went to one corner and used a thin screwdriver(precision screwdriver) to pry the diffuser out of the housing then used another similar screwdriver to go as far as I could on the long edge. Close to the end I could not go any further and noticed on the short side that the diffuse was twisted enough that I could pry it open and it popped out. Hope I can finesse it back in when I am ready to put it back. Hope this helps.
I have one fixture where the end caps are held on with little knurled nuts, easy to unscrew with fingers.
That's the only one I've ever seen like that. With every other one I've ever worked on, there is a way to gently bend/flex the plastic so that it pops off. Take your time, look what's holding it in, bend it and remove it. Sometimes they snap over and you flex them out, more often they snap inside and you flex them inwards. Rest assured, these are built to come out for bulb replacement. Sometimes they slide towards one end until they come free of the other end, then lower a little and slide away. Usually that kind also needs to flex inward a little.
If the lens is very old, the plastic may have degraded and become brittle. You said a new home, but it may just be new to you. I had one lens that was yellowed and cracked, but I had a reason to keep the fixture, so I sent to fluorolite (I think) for a replacement. You just measure and send a photo, and it fit perfectly. $5? Uh, no. It was about $45 for the lens and another $45 for the shipping.
When you get the tube out, make sure it's really a fluorescent tube and not an LED replacement. It probably is real if it is flickering but still be careful. It is a really really bad idea to put a fluorescent tube in a fixture that has been rewired to take LED tubes.
And yes, I know it is an 18 year old thread. I'm replying to the reply only because you really shouldn't need a screwdriver to do this job.
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