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Lighting Design Dilemma

Exterior light fixture- how do I change the bulbs in this one?

last month

I have read past posts and have searched everywhere before posting. It can’t be that hard to change the bulbs in this thing! There aren’t any screws on the top that would allow me to slide the cover to access the bulbs. I tried removing the screws on the bottom, which got me nowhere. The bottom screws are to the grids that hold the glass panes in, and removing the bottom screws doesn’t allow me to remove a pane to get inside. I have removed the accent knob on the bottom, which doesn’t allow me to pull the bottom down in order to change the bulb. It shouldn’t be this hard! Is this the one fixture I read that was a manufacturer issue where I need to replace the entire fixture? Thanks!

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Comments (2)

Alissa Colombi
Original Author
last month
Thank you! I will try removing those screws. Yes, the green circles are the screws that attach to the metal posts.

The bulbs do not hang down though. The bulbs are screwed into 2 center sockets, stand upright, and removing the lid would have been an easier access to reach in and unscrew them. But, it was not designed with any top access to remove the lid. (That would have made it too easy) :)

Thank you!
wdccruise
last month
Maybe this is it: Minka Lavery Harrison - 2 Light Outdoor Wall Mount and Installation Instructions which show how it's assembled.
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Is there a thin silver metal ring around the glass lens? If so, look for a break in it, and use a fingernail or small non-scratchy flat-blade object to pull it inwards and then down, after which the glass lens will fall out allowing access to the bulb. If it's an MR16 bulb, the bulb and reflector will be part of the same unit, so pull on the reflector not the glass bulb.
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Anything will be better than what you have now. You can put 4 cool bulbs - and it will work, or mix them 2 and 2. Since T12s are getting phased out - you can replace your fixtures with a 2 T8 fixture as well. Again - you can mix cool white and warm white or use 2 cool whites. Or you can replace it with an LED fixture - Costco has the shoplights for 29.95. To some extent it depends on how cold is your basement - if it is on a cool side - probably keeping fluorescents is better - they do warm the room. LEDs is barely warm to touch. If you want to try T8s - you need to change the fixture - the ballasts are different . In my experience - do NOT buy fixtures in Walmart - they are the cheapest but they do not last. If you have an old style wide reflector fixtures... investing in a new ballast and switchng to T8s makes sense. Then you can keep only one fixture per shelf. Irina, the rewiring hobbyist.
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Unfortunately, there's a good chance that you'll have to change the entire unit. If you can determine who made it, you might try contacting the manufacturer to ask if it's serviceable and whether replacement parts are available. They may not be. I've run into cases where parts weren't available because the manufacturer was running low profit margins, and didn't want to spend any money to get UL certification for spare parts. I've heard of electronics hobbyists repairing their own LED lights in such cases. But this isn't something the average homeowner could do. I've been hesitant to go all in for dedicated, one-piece LED fixtures for this very reason. It's not so bad if you have only one fixture per room, but what if you have 2 or more? If you want them all to match, and you can't find a match to the failed one, what can you do? You either put up with a mismatch, or buy replacements for ALL of them. What a waste. That isn't a problem if you use good old fashioned incandescent fixtures, and install retrofit LEDs.
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That looks like Mica company, and it looks like you remove the screws around the outside.
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