I have had a faulty light fixture for years
#1
03-26-18, 09:52 PM
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Canada
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I have had a faulty light fixture for years
Hello everyone,
I have had a faulty light fixture for years, in the sense that it has continual making an irritating noise, while flickering, even after a brand new light bulb has been put into the socket. In terms of the type of socket, in the fixture, the fixture is not a type of fixture that you could replace as a single unit, such as the type that I replaced in my kitchen (a standard replaceable fixture). I looks like the previous owner, or contractors who built the house (probably about sixty years ago), tried to build the light fixture into the ceiling, permanently. For this reason, I will likely need to turn the electricity going to the fixture, off from the main electrical panel, and and chip the paint and plaster away, to get at the fixture, and either remove, or cut the leads going to the bulb, depending on the condition of the leads, at the point where they connect to the current fixture. Subsequently, the replacement fixture will likely be the standard replaceable type. Lastly, after removing the current fixture, I will need to fix the ceiling around the area of the fixture, I had have to damage the plaster near the current fixture, slightly.
The problem has been continually worsening over a period of five to ten years, where it has finally reached the point where I must do something about it. Basically, when I put a new light bulb in the socket it behaves erratically in terms of flickering and making noises, as I mentioned, and this has reached the point of the light bulb behaving erratically, as I mentioned, for a more and more consistent period of time, until now, where this problem is almost constant, and the life of the bulb has gotten so short, that bulbs have only been lasting about a month, at best.
When I installed the last bulb, I screwed it in snugly, and had no light coming from the bulb. Next, I loosened the bulb, in terms of backing it off, slightly. At this point, the bulb, lit, and received light, but the flickering and noise became worse then ever. Basically, I think everyone would agree with me, in deducing that the light fixture poses a serious danger, as long as it is used because it is seems like the connections are shorting out, either on the leads themselves, or the leads are bare at some point, and touching a metal conductive surface, within something, inside the ceiling. Although I had to back off the bulb, leading someone to believe that it may simply be a loose connection,but, judging from the loud, persistent noise, I suspect that the connection is actually shorted, and probably arcing, as it is intermittently flickering, although the arcing is almost constant, now (theoretically speaking). In short, I am probably lucky that I have my home has not burned down already, as result of this issue, and I intend to not use the fixture at all, until I have replaced the fixture.
In a nutshell, I would like to hear input from anyone, in terms of fixing this issue with the fixture, if there are any insights regarding anything that I may be missing. Basically, I am confident that my steps in solving this issue are solid, however, I would appreciate advice from those who may have worked in the capacity of electricians and so forth.
I have had a faulty light fixture for years, in the sense that it has continual making an irritating noise, while flickering, even after a brand new light bulb has been put into the socket. In terms of the type of socket, in the fixture, the fixture is not a type of fixture that you could replace as a single unit, such as the type that I replaced in my kitchen (a standard replaceable fixture). I looks like the previous owner, or contractors who built the house (probably about sixty years ago), tried to build the light fixture into the ceiling, permanently. For this reason, I will likely need to turn the electricity going to the fixture, off from the main electrical panel, and and chip the paint and plaster away, to get at the fixture, and either remove, or cut the leads going to the bulb, depending on the condition of the leads, at the point where they connect to the current fixture. Subsequently, the replacement fixture will likely be the standard replaceable type. Lastly, after removing the current fixture, I will need to fix the ceiling around the area of the fixture, I had have to damage the plaster near the current fixture, slightly.
The problem has been continually worsening over a period of five to ten years, where it has finally reached the point where I must do something about it. Basically, when I put a new light bulb in the socket it behaves erratically in terms of flickering and making noises, as I mentioned, and this has reached the point of the light bulb behaving erratically, as I mentioned, for a more and more consistent period of time, until now, where this problem is almost constant, and the life of the bulb has gotten so short, that bulbs have only been lasting about a month, at best.
When I installed the last bulb, I screwed it in snugly, and had no light coming from the bulb. Next, I loosened the bulb, in terms of backing it off, slightly. At this point, the bulb, lit, and received light, but the flickering and noise became worse then ever. Basically, I think everyone would agree with me, in deducing that the light fixture poses a serious danger, as long as it is used because it is seems like the connections are shorting out, either on the leads themselves, or the leads are bare at some point, and touching a metal conductive surface, within something, inside the ceiling. Although I had to back off the bulb, leading someone to believe that it may simply be a loose connection,but, judging from the loud, persistent noise, I suspect that the connection is actually shorted, and probably arcing, as it is intermittently flickering, although the arcing is almost constant, now (theoretically speaking). In short, I am probably lucky that I have my home has not burned down already, as result of this issue, and I intend to not use the fixture at all, until I have replaced the fixture.
In a nutshell, I would like to hear input from anyone, in terms of fixing this issue with the fixture, if there are any insights regarding anything that I may be missing. Basically, I am confident that my steps in solving this issue are solid, however, I would appreciate advice from those who may have worked in the capacity of electricians and so forth.
#2
03-26-18, 10:02 PM
Group Moderator
Welcome to the forums.
It is very common for bulb sockets to go bad. It sounds like that fixture is pretty old which means the sockets are old. There is a good chance you could replace the sockets and allow the fixture to continue on running.
You don't have a short or you'd have a circuit breaker trip or fuse blow.
If you can remove the cover..... post a few pictures of the insides for us.
How-to-insert-pictures
It is very common for bulb sockets to go bad. It sounds like that fixture is pretty old which means the sockets are old. There is a good chance you could replace the sockets and allow the fixture to continue on running.
You don't have a short or you'd have a circuit breaker trip or fuse blow.
If you can remove the cover..... post a few pictures of the insides for us.
How-to-insert-pictures
#3
03-26-18, 10:14 PM
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 2
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Thank you for your reply, Pete. I see now that the screws are painted over, on the fixture. For this reason, I will try to clean the paint off of the screws which fasten the fixture in place. As a last resort, I will turn off the circuit breaker, and drill the heads of the screws off, while trying to only remove the heads of the screws and not the threaded portion, inside the fixture, so that when I replace the fixture, I will not have to replace an additional fitting, inside the ceiling, as well.
