. glass on a lightbulb has come away from the threaded base, and cannot be unscrewed. We've turned the power off. how can we proceed safely, and get the sucker out?
lythande1,
Oct 21, 1:54pm
pliers
peanuts37,
Oct 21, 1:55pm
Make sure powers off. Get pliers and grip a bit of the edge of base sticking out and twist it which should distort base for easy removal. MAKE SURE POWER IS OFF.
devalois,
Oct 21, 2:02pm
Yep. as stated above. Already done that, but thanks. We've just rung an electrician and my husband thought he'd get up in the attic and photograph the actual fitting, and send a photo through to him (sparky is out of range of a call just now,) but the entire house is fitted with these things, and apparently 'they' 'don't make them any more. ' We'd thought to go down the pliers route, so will get back to you about that, and thanks!
shanreagh,
Oct 21, 4:03pm
I've used the pliers technique and it has always worked to unscrew a broken down light from it's socket. And you can get screw in globes to replace but some times they are not as fancy as the ones being replaced. I have replaced some of my down lights with screw in eco bulbs. If you are going to replace them all then make sure you get LED.
Actually the way I got the bit out last time was not to try to grip an edge with the pliers but to spread the pliers from one side to the other inside the fitting and then turn it by holding on to the ends of pliers.
devalois,
Oct 21, 8:11pm
FIXED! Thanks so much to all who advised: turns out they're not down-lights as such, but are flush with the ceiling, and ordinary screw-in bulbs. Ended up getting the local sparky in who was free, and he did exactly what YOU suggested, thanks SHANREAGH, spread the pliers out and it all came free very quickly. Can always depend on the community: thanks very much!
budgel,
Oct 22, 9:54am
A good reason to only buy lamps with bayonet fittings.
trade4us2,
Oct 22, 11:48pm
Mitre10 have some quite nice cheap sensor lights with Edison Screw fittings. They have a whole shelf full that nobody is buying. I only have bayonet fittings in my house, and I'm not changing them.
skull,
Oct 23, 9:23am
Edison screw are actually better than bayonet fittings, I think eventually bayonet bulbs will phase themselves out. I have mostly bayonet here but still have much the same grief as OP from time to time. I don't think the quality of incandescent light bulbs is anywhere near what it used to be in the olden days.
martin11,
Oct 23, 10:37am
Replace the lot with LED lights .
tygertung,
Oct 23, 10:54am
Or maybe the golden days, with that golden incandescent glow?
budgel,
Oct 23, 11:09am
In what way are Edison screws better than bayonet fittings? Any stuck fittings that I have come across have always been Edison screws.
ryanm2,
Sep 16, 5:57pm
Yup, I’m a sparky and the we get a lot of work from stuck ES lamps.
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