Natwerk Designs

How do you change the small down lights used in kitchens etc.?

The down lights are small with two prongs pointing towards the roof when installed,but I cannot get the old one out,any ideas would be appreciated,thanks for your help.

Public Comments

1. Sorry but you might have to force the old one and break it. Normally small halogen lights like that get so hot it gets ,sort of,welded into the socket. Be careful youmight hurt yourself in the process. Turn the power off,and with a pair of pliers pull out the old light,if you cant break it free,break the glass -there is a pair of wires inside it then pull out that 1.There is also a risk of breaking the whole system if you don't pull it out with a lot of patience.Take it easy,take your time a bulb is cheaper than buying a whole new unit.
2. The halogen is made such that the actual lamp is inside the surrounding reflector. The lamp has two prongs portruding from the reflector that fit tightly into a "free" base, in that the base is not really secured to anything other than the lamp, and the lamp is typically held by the trim. This is a little different than landscape lighting where the base us usually secured to a mount. Let them completely cool off, get the lamp out of the trim piece then work one side of the base up a little (nearest one of the two pins), then the opposite side, "wiggling" the lamp slowly out of the base. If it absolutely does not move, the flimsy little base may get bent up trying to force everything, these are easy to replace if they get totally wrecked and you can buy them at any electrical supply house. Once in awhile one or both of the pins break off in the hole, a good pair of needle nose pliers may get them out. If you end up replacing the base, use high temperature rated wire nuts to attach the new leads to the old leads. Make sure you do not use lamps with a wattage greater then the fixture is rated for, often 50 watts. There are soome 70 watt maximum and there are some trim pieces that will force a maximum of 35 watts, such as shower trims. Too high a wattage may damage fixtures and/or cause fires.