Sadly enough I have saw similiar fixtures. Different ones were put together differently. If it is all painted up options become limited. Well you or your wife probably will not like this one. Unless you really want to repair, rewire these for the antique value the most expediant thing to do is use a cold chisel, punch or such lay it against the ceramic fixture and rap it soundly with a hammer. Make sure to wear safety goggles and long sleeves and gloves would not hurt. that stuff can break into some sharp pieces. You will likely find there is no electrical junction box in the ceiling so when enough of the fixture is broken away some screws will show up being in wood. Hopefully destroying the first one will allow you to determine how it was put together so maybe you will not have to break the others. If you are down to small enough pieces they can sometimes be crushed with a pair of channel lock pliers. The simplest replacement electrical junction box to hang the new fixture on is called a ceiling pan. They come in 3 1/2 inch and 4 inch round sizes. They are only one half inch in deph so you can chisel out the plaster screw it to the ceiling lathe and it will be flush with the ceiling. If the new fixture allows it you can sometimes not bother with cutting the plaster out and just run the screws through it. I would also not be suprised to see just two black wires with very brittle crumbling insulation up there. Use some shrink tube or pull some insulation off some new wire to recover them. The old knob and tube stuff had some advantages but the insulation does dry out. Ron ----- Original Message ----- From: "phil bleyhl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 11:06 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] old ceiling fixture
> In our old house in the upstairs bedrooms are ceiling fixtures which are a small ceramic cylinder about 2 inches wide and about the same length. There is a small dome on the bottom and out of the center hole hands a forlorn cord - actually two old fuzzy cords brittle with age -- and at the end of each is a light socket with a light bulb and no shield until my daughter cleverly hung a japanese paper lanter on hers. Naturally a short has appeared. It is in the fixture. > > I turned the power off and confidently thought I would open it up and repair the short. There were no screws at the base. I poked at the dome with a screw driver and paint fell out of two holes one on each side of the center. I turned out screws at the bottom of the holes. Each is small and about a half inch long. The holes were about as deep as the dome is high from the edge of the cylinders. > > Nothing happened when the screws came out. > > I attempted to turn the dome. Nothing happened. > > I thumped the cylinder. Nothing happened. > > These things are covered with paint and I could feel no seam along the body. So here is the question how do you remove the fixtures or get inside without destroying the fragile plaster ceilings? > > When I ask people about this. There is nothing but silence. Like who would have such old fixtures anyway? > > Are these things two pieces or one? > > Incidently, grousing about how difficult this was and who would paint a ceramic fixture anyway? I was informed by my wife, that if they were an ugly brown you might. Needless to say I dropped the subject. > > Any suggestions? > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://acbradio.org/handyman.html > or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. > http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml > > Visit The New Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following Address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ > Visit the new archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.11.5/426 - Release Date: 8/23/06 > > To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit The New Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following Address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the new archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
