Replacing Light Fixtures

  Replacing a light fixture can be a very risky task and DIY approach should be avoided, working on larger scale. Handy man or trained/professional electrician should be hired for the tasks like that.

  The steps for the task as follow:

Flipping a Breaker:

  The first approach in changing a light fixture is to shut the breaker off and proceed further, so there is no electricity flowing in the circuit. But even most of the times this is not enough, some junction boxes contain wiring from the multiple circuits. If that is the reason, it is advised to use a tester to check the flow of electricity, if the light in the tester starts glowing the there is still current flowing in the wire. In that case the best approach is to find the circuit breaker for particular circuit and turn it off then proceed.

Extra Hardware:

   Having extra hardware and tools always comes in handy having multiple types of wall bracket and tools can be helpful at sight. It is quite possible the mounting brackets may not work with the new light fixtures and it is good to have some extra at work.

   Another example is the screws, they can be too long or too short sometimes depending on the particular situation. Using a hacksaw in the situation like these is not the right approach because that will mess up the threads of the screws and will compromise on the fixture. Using bolt cutters is the best tool to be used in these situations.

Extension of Wires:

   Wires should be extended in the first place before applying a light fixture for future. In future if there is any renovation these extended wires can be a big help. Installing stab in connectors is the best approach. But trained technician should be doing the job because stab in connectors can compromise wiring and can be resulted in broken connection and other issue is if it is not installed properly it might strip away lots of wire insulation leaving bare copper winding exposed which can cause short circuit.

   There are many advantages but some disadvantages too, as it can’t be undone easily in future, the only way is to cut the wiring and start over again. Although some manufacturers have improved and introduced push-in clamps. But they are not widely used and cannot substitute screws as they are considered safest ones available.

Check Wiring:

   Wiring need to be checked before installing the light fixture. It is advised to check the wire rating and use the wiring which is rated for at least 90 degrees. A low rated wiring used can end up in fire. Although hanging fixture don’t normally require new wiring as they don’t heat up the wires that much. If changing wiring is not possible then you have to choose fixture that doesn’t carry this warning.

   Hanging light fixtures have canopies, that is mostly held by two screws, although aligning those two screws seems to be an easy enough job but it very necessary that they sit opposite to each other for a strong hold.

Extra Lights:

   Focal lights and headlamps must be kept at sight while working with the light fixtures. It cannot be determined how much time it will take before analyzing the fixtures, so it is considered to be a good practice to have them all the time and even in some situation day light may not be enough depends on the time of the day and the work site as well.

Check for Ground:

   New light fixtures come with ground wiring (green coated or bare copper). But in most of the older metal boxes, there may not be a ground wire. Adding a ground wire is not a difficult job and should be added if it is not there. But before proceeding it should be made sure that the box is itself grounded.