I have a 3 light fixture over my bathroom mirror. The one on the left goes on and off. An electrician looked at it and said I needed a new fixture but didn't have time to fix it and hasn't responded to calls since. How hard is it to fix myself? Please see photo.
Not hard at all.
Turn off the breaker that provides power to that fixture. (not the switch, but the circuit breaker). Undo the fixture. (take a picture before undoing any wiring just to be sure). Install new fixture and wire the black to black of the fixture, white to white and ground (green) just like the old one.
You may need to drill new holes for the fixture itself. But most should be supported by the box.
Turn power off to the fixture.
I prefer using the circuit breaker as you may not know what some DIY electrician has done in the past,
Then remove the bulb from a good fixture and the bad one and with a flashlight look up into the fixture and compare them. Also mark whick bulb goes where so you can swap them when putting them back.
A common problem is the center connector in the socket not making good contact so check it's position.
Even if it look good I would bend it down a bit.
I prefer to use a non conducting tool when doing this even if the power is off.
Also be gentle as they can break easily.
Before you go replacing the whole fixture, have you tried a new bulb? Or at least swapping the bulbs to ensure it isn't the bulb that's going bad?
There's not much in that fixture to go bad. It's either
1) The bulb (LED bulbs tend to flicker when they go bad, as opposed to incandescent bulbs that just blow)
2) The socket (cheap sockets tend to have their spring-contacts get loose)
3) A loose connection from the socket to the power in the wall (likely a poorly twisted cable or loose wire nut).
#2 is the only potentially difficult one to fix, depending on how the manufacturer decided to attach the socket to the fixture. Unless you want to replace the fixture with something different, you can probably fix the issue pretty cheaply and without much work.
No harm done doing all the suggestions offered but, if the electrician said it needed replacement and he was there to actually see it, I would not doubt his suggestion. And the fact that he has not shown up since is no surprise. He most likely has much bigger and more pressing jobs that need to be done. So your light fixture is at the bottom of the list.
Go shopping and look for new one. Or you can take it down, and take pictures so we can look at it. But if it was me, I'd want to replace it and get it over with.
to be clear - we have tried several different kinds of bulbs. Have had problems with a batch of led bulbs in the past but this one is not the led bulb.
So as you went through various bulbs it was only the light on the left that would go on and off randomly while the middle and right lights stayed on steady?
With all due respect to Allan, I would suggest not fixing the problem socket. Unless you know exactly what your doing. If by chance you do fix it and if by slim chance of a fire or shock occurs with respect to that fixture, you have canceled any insurance and or warranty associated with it.
Replace the fixture.
I have a two-story house that was built in the 80's and sits on a concrete slab thus no basement. I want to put a washing machine in my utility room. However, the rooms does not have a drain. Since the house is on a slab it seems my only alternative is to pump the water up 8ft and exit through the utility room to the garage. Then from there tie into a drain that's in my half-bath area.
The image below highlights what I'm planning to do.
Does this seems reasonable? Can I tap into that vent pipe that I exposed in the garage?
I'm not sure if this is to code. I appreciate any recommendations or alternate ideas for this project.
[img]https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/823x1056/drain_20985b70024cbcc22ed7a360b6a90f4d0f3af8f3.jpg[/img]
Thanks
I recently installed a floodlight camera near my front door. For it to be on a switch has to be on in my house which also turns on a small above the door light (see photo). Just wondering if there is a light I could replace it with that would only turn on at night? I couldn't seem to find one online. Any advice?
[img]https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/1500x2000/img_4095_3e00dfd172ae84d543099b36b4e68ba3e80fe38d.jpg[/img]
09-28-21, 08:31 AM
