Puzzle: how to get this light fixture open?

[David Nebenzahl]

Client has a ceiling light fixture in her kitchen that I cannot figure out how to open to replace bulbs.

Has a circular glass dish held in place by three metal brackets around the edge. Each bracket appears to be solid metal (appear bronze or bronze-finished). Each bracket is in a square U-shape, with the U on its side; the top is against the circular metal plate below the ceiling; the bottom of each bracket is under the glass dish. The brackets don't budge in any direction.

It appears the the only way to open this would be if the brackets slid outward to release the glass, or if they turned outward, but they don't move at all in these directions.

So then it occurred to me that maybe the whole fixture twists off from its mount on the ceiling. The whole thing is rather loose, and can be pulled down from the ceiling about 1/2", but not enough to get a finger inside it (it springs back up when released).

Anyone ever seen a fixture like this and know how to open it up?

[aemeijers]

Some pictures would help....

-- aem sends...

[DD_BobK]

I second that.....

have the brackets been painted to the point of fixity?

cheers Bob

[David Nebenzahl]

On 2/4/2010 6:14 PM DD_BobK spake thus:

WTF??? Painted???

No; I said (you can read it right there above) that the brackets "appear bronze or bronze-finished". And they *are* fixed to the baseplate; that's the whole problem.

So I take it you have no experience with this type of light fixture, right?

So to reply to the previous message: don't have a digital camera, so no pics.

Let me describe it exhaustively so that there's no ambiguity here. (You know, even before there were cameras, people were capable of describing things using those things called "words" so that other people could understand what they were talking about.)

It's a circular fixture. There's a shallow circular metal baseplate on top (against the ceiling). Attached to this are three metal brackets around the edge of the baseplate, at 120-degree intervals. Each bracket extends outward from the baseplate, downwards, then inwards again (hence the U-shape). Image the letter "U" turned on its side, with angular strokes instead of a curve. The legs of the "U" point towards the center of the fixture. The brackets are firmly attached to the baseplate.

The glass dish goes into each bracket, so that the bracket holds the glass captive. The brackets extend beyond the glass dish. The only way to get inside the fixture would be to move the brackets somehow--either straight out (away from the center of the fixture) or by turning them on their axis--to release the glass shade.

Got the picture now?

[RBM]

It sounds like a fixture I've seen a few times. One of the three brackets is spring loaded and pulls straight out allowing the glass to slip down

[Jack Hammer]

If it is like the one I have you have to pull down on one of the tabs and rotate.

[Jim]

What an absolute ASSHOLE!...you ask for free help and then give people shit for asking for a photo... ever think perhaps YOUR WORDS and your impression on the fixture may be totally WRONG??? A PHOTO would help people perhaps see beyond your freaking WORDS and make a better analysis of your current situation..

total asshole... Jim

[David Nebenzahl]

On 2/4/2010 7:05 PM RBM spake thus:

So it seems like I need to try pulling harder on one of the brackets (or maybe twisting one, as another reply suggested). That occurred to me, and I'll try it next time I go over there.

It also sounds you actually have some experience with this kind of fixture, and aren't just idly speculating and then complaining that I didn't post a photo of the thing. Thanks for that.

[RBM]

I've installed several of this type of fixture. The first time I hung one, I thought that it was a really stupid mechanism. The three clips look identical. How would anyone know to pull straight out on one of them, and how do you guess which one. I think that some things should be obvious

[John Grabowski]

*I have installed the type that RBM mentions. Another type has it where the brackets are held on by screws. It is a pain to hold the dish and install the brackets with a screw. Sometimes these types of fixtures can have their bulbs replaced from the top.

David, people are trying to help you here and no one knows the caliber of your experience. When you post a question to the entire world you will get all kinds of answers. Be nice. Based on reading many of your posts I suspect that you are doing electrical work in California without a license. Am I correct?

[Van Chocstraw]

Go find the same one in a store and see or ask how it opens up.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 2/5/2010 4:36 AM John Grabowski spake thus:

Yes; what of it? You're not a local building inspector, are you?

Regarding the responses I got, some of them seem to be from folks who clearly have reading comprehension problems. I have little patience for that. So sue me.

[Red Green]

David Nebenzahl wrote in news:4b6cc16d$0$17560 $ [e-mail]:

Oh....it's not comprension?

[John Grabowski]

*No, but I do have a California C10 license. My problem is that you're an unlicensed guy being hiring by homeowners to do wiring in their homes yet at the same time you announce to the world that you cannot figure out how to change light bulbs in a ceiling fixture. It seems that you don't have a mentor or took the time out to get any electrical training. I assume that getting your work inspected is out of the question.

You also don't appear to be very bright. California is probably the worst state in the union to do work as an unlicensed contractor. They spend a lot of money enforcing the contractor laws and these days the members of the contractor's board are doing everything that they can to justify their jobs to avoid getting laidoff. You have no problem announcing to the world that you work without a license.

[Jim Elbrecht]

Yeah, but with his charm and wit he should be able to sweet-talk the authorities into looking the other way.

Killfile the twit- he's obviously one of the pigs that will never learn to sing. If we start ignoring the likes of him and the 'mormon' and the other I'm smarter than all you folks but tell me how to do this. . .' folks maybe they'll go away.

Jim

[DD_BobK]

take a look on ebay

search for canon digital camera A10

you can get a complete set up for less than $20 (including shipping)

I used to use one of these until my son bought me a Canon SD1000.

The A10 is a decent but dated camera and for less than $20 you cannot go wrong

btw it could be identical to the fixture in my entry way but without a photo I cannot be sure

cheers Bob

[Metspitzer]

Or just take a couple of cell phone pics.

[EXT]

This all sounds like the games auto manufacturers played in the 1950s and drove the gas station attendants crazy, yes, in those days gas stations had attendants that filled your cars with gasoline.

Some had the cap on the side behind a door such as you see today. Others hid the door in the corner of the truck lid, others put them behind the license plate which was on a spring loaded hinge. Volkswagen was under the hood. Buick was behind the left tail light which hinged down. Sometimes you had to walk around and try different things to find the gas cap.

Then again they also confused us with hiding the starter button. Some used the key switch like today, some had a button on the dash. Others made you put the gear shift lever in neutral and pull it towards yourself, one company added the starter button behind the clutch-you pushed down extra hard to start it. Buicks put it under the accelerator pedal, again you pushed down extra hard to start. Mini Minors had a rubber bump on the hump on the floor, you pressed it with your palm or fist. I worked in an auto body repair shop and it was a challenge every time you had to move a car. Don't let me get started on the Divco delivery trucks that you drove standing up with a rocker gas pedal that you stood on and a combination brake and parking brake.

[aemeijers]

Metspitzer wrote: (snip)

He doesn't have a digital camera- my cell phone only makes phone calls. (But that is all I wanted it to do. And I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into owning one, about 5 years ago, when I needed it for a particular set of circumstances. I may make 20? calls a year on it. Thank heavens for cheap pre-paid.)

Point being, never assume any one person has a particular bit of technology, just because 'everyone' has it. (and, no, I'm not defending OP, who I thought showed unneeded attitude.)

-- aem sends...

[Metspitzer]

You have to make lots of assumptions on Usenet. You do know that, right? BTW, I wasn't really assuming he had a picture phone, I would hope if he had one he would already have used it. I was just suggesting, that if he wanted a picture bad enough, a cell phone is pretty handy for that.

A cell phone is very portable and always handy. I pay a grand total of 11 bucks a month for mine. Pictures are extra, and to be honest, I don't even know how much it costs to send them, but if I had a "impossible" situation, I would consider it at any cost.

Another plus, that I have never used, is you can have a Google map sent to your phone. If I get lost, I can call friends with a computer from any intersection in the USA, and have directions send to the phone.

I consider a phone in the class with a gun. It is better to have one and not need it, than to need one and not have it.

- Beam me up Scottie