Safety is important when replacing a ceiling lamp.
Many ceiling lamps hang from the ceiling from a rod or a chain. You can replace a ceiling lamp in a simple process that is akin to replacing a ceiling fan, using a few common tools. Often, the hardest part is handling the weight and awkward size of the fixture. If your ceiling lamp is large, with multiple sockets and decorative arms, you may need help handling it safely.
Instructions
1. Go to the circuit breaker and turn off the power for the circuit that the ceiling lamp you wish to replace is on. Turn the wall switch for the ceiling light on and off to ensure that the proper breaker switch is turned off.
2. Climb the ladder to the ceiling lamp, bringing the wrench, screwdriver and circuit tester with you. Put on your rubber gloves.
3. Use the wrench to unscrew the canopy nut, which holds the canopy in place. The canopy covers the hardware mounting the light to the ceiling. Some ceiling lamps have a series of lenses or shades that cover the hardware, rather than a canopy. In this case, remove the locking cap at the bottom of the down rod to slide the lamp lenses or shades off the rod until you have access to the mounting hardware.
4. Note the wires connecting the circuit of the ceiling lamp to the circuit from the outlet box behind the crossbar. There should be five or six wires. Use your circuit tester on the black or red wire to ensure that there is no electrical current in the wires. The circuit tester should read zero.
5. Unscrew the wire nuts from the three pairs of connections. If the green wire or ground wire from the outlet box is connected to a green screw on the cross bar, there will be only two pairs of wires to disconnect. Use the screwdriver to loosen the screw and unwind the green wire from the screw. Pull apart the leads of the black and white pairs of wires as well. Press these wires out of the way.
6. Ask a friend to hold the ceiling lamp while you unscrew the cross bar from the ceiling. Use the Phillips screwdriver to unscrew the cross bar. Bring the ceiling lamp to the floor when the cross bar is released.
7. Use the wrench to loosen the nut and collar from the bolt threaded through the cross bar. The bolt may be attached to a chain which suspends the ceiling lamp, or it may be like a long down rod. In either case, pull it off the cross bar when the nuts are loosened and set it aside.
8. Attach the replacement ceiling lamp to the cross bar. Insert the threaded bar through the cross bar in the same hole that the previous bolt was threaded, and tighten it to the cross bar using the nut and collar.
9. Climb the ladder again while you and your friend hold the ceiling lamp. Hold the cross bar against the holes in the electrical box and screw in the mounting screws so that the cross bar is attached to the outlet box.
10. Reconnect the wires in the same configuration in which you disconnected them, and replace the wire nuts. Push the wiring behind the crossbar into the electrical box. Before tightening the canopy to the ceiling to hide the mounting hardware, turn the power at the breaker on and check that the ceiling lamp works. If it doesn't, turn off the power and check the wiring. Otherwise, tighten the canopy to the ceiling with your wrench.
Tags: ceiling lamp, circuit tester, turn power, behind crossbar, bolt threaded,