Instruments
Replacing luminaires in a stretch ceiling requires caution and certain skills. To change a blown bulb, you must first prepare the following tools:
- Ladder. It is more convenient to change burnt out light sources with a suitable-sized and stable staircase. If there is no stepladder at hand, you can use the table.
- Indicator screwdriver. It should be remembered that not all installers perform the connection of luminaires to switches through a phase. Often, instead of the phase to be switched off, a zero is interrupted by the click of a switch, and therefore it is better to check the voltage before performing work.
- Pliers with narrow lips. The tool allows you to unclench the antennae of the circlip.
- Screwdrivers with a flat end, preferably of small thickness, but long. With their help, it will be convenient to pull out lamps that are mounted in the socket by springs.
- Phillips screwdriver. It will be required to loosen the terminal clamp if it becomes necessary to replace the cartridge.
- Knife. It will be required to clean the ends of the wiring in the new lamp.
- Terminal block Needed to replace twisted joints.
These tools will allow you to easily and quickly perform lamp replacement with your own hands without the involvement of third-party specialists.
Instructions for replacing the lamp
Before you begin to replace the fixtures in the suspended ceiling, you should determine their type and arrangement of the lamp base. There are several main types of lighting devices used in suspension systems:
- Spots. They consist of a frame base fixed to the floor slab and the lamp itself mounted on the base. When installing the lamp, the decorative ring is fixed so that the material of the stretch ceiling does not break. The lamp is inserted into the cartridge, but in order to get to the cartridge, it is necessary to press the side springs;
- Spotlights. They can be equipped with traditional lamps with a base, as well as lamps with a housing that serves as a fuse against excessive heat. In both cases, the lamps will have to be replaced either by twisting them in the usual way, or by inserting them into the housing.
For those who have not previously encountered the question of how to change a light bulb on a stretch ceiling, it is first necessary to study the instructions for removing and installing various types of lamps.
Withdrawal
To replace the lamp in the lighting device, you need to know what its base and how the lamp is fixed to the base of the lamp.
According to the type of cap, the lamps are distinguished into the following types:
Screw. Traditional base, as in old incandescent lamps. Two types are represented on the domestic market: E14 and E27, type E26 is common in European countries. Such caps are equipped not only with incandescent lamps, but also with LED, halogen and fluorescent lamps.
To remove such a lamp is simple - you need to take it by the bulb and turn it from right to left. Cartridges for a screw or threaded base are equipped with chandeliers and spotlights.
Pin. This type of base is equipped with halogen, LED and fluorescent spotlights. As marking for them, alphabetic characters starting with "G" are used, then any Latin letters and numbers can stand. Marking helps to identify a specific variety of different types of pin connections and inter-pin distance.
The protrusions on the base (pins) are designed to ensure reliable mounting of the lamp in the cartridge, and are also contact conductors of electric current. The protrusions can be of a straight type, without thickenings, and with a thickening in the upper part.
The base with straight protrusions is removed by simply pulling the lamp onto itself.
Before replacing the LED lamp on the stretch ceiling with thickened protrusions, you will have to make a small turn from right to left and pull down. In addition to standard pins, tabs also exist in the form of plates.
Bayonet. Lighting devices with cartridges for this type of socle are not common in our country. Usually cars and other mechanical vehicles are equipped with such lamps. Lamps are marked with the letter "B". You can remove such a lamp from the cartridge by turning it from right to left.
We mention one more nuance in the framework of how to replace an LED lamp on a stretch ceiling. Some LED and halogen lamps can be equipped with a special casing, which is designed to reduce the heating temperature during operation of the lamp. Such lamps can be removed with or without a protective casing.
To remove the lamp with the casing, you need to slip a straight, thin and long screwdriver into the gap between the fixing ring and the lamp base, for which you need to slightly loosen the base itself.
Then, expanding the gap, a second screwdriver is introduced, after which it is necessary to gently pull the lamp down until it is possible to grab onto the mounting springs and compress them. Thus, the lamp is removed from the base, after which the lamp is removed in a manner appropriate to the type of connection (simple pin, pin with a thickening).
In point-type flat ceiling lights, to replace the lamp, you will need to squeeze the retaining ring that holds the lamp in the housing. This procedure can be performed with your fingers or using pliers with thin sponges. Squeezing the ring, remove the lamp from the housing and remove the lamp.
Installation
To install a new light bulb instead of a damaged one, it is necessary to perform the steps opposite to the removal process:
- Products with a threaded base are screwed in from left to right;
- Products with pin mounting are inserted directly. In this case, a click means that the protrusions are locked in the cartridge. If the protrusions on the product with a thickening, it is necessary to insert the pins into the receiving holes, gently press down, turn from left to right until they are firmly fixed;
- If there is a replacement in devices with a fixture ring fixing, you must first insert the lamp into the cartridge, and then, holding the springs with your fingers, push the lamp into the body, after which you can unclench your fingers - the lamp will automatically replace and lock;
- When working with cabinet lights, where the light source is fixed with a locking ring, you need to install the product based on its type of cap, after which the stopper is tucked at one end into a special groove, then you need to compress the ring along the diameter of the lamp and fix the second end into another groove - the process completed.
General rules and recommendations
When working with lighting devices, it is necessary to adhere to the technology and observe safety rules:
- The replacement scheme for damaged products in suspended and suspended ceilings does not differ, but in the case of suspended ceilings, one should be more careful, since sharp objects can ruin the canvas irrevocably;
- If new halogen lamps are to be installed, all work must be done with cotton gloves, since dirt and grease that have fallen on the product’s flask cause the lamp to quickly burn out;
- If it is difficult to remove products with a threaded connection (the base is burnt in the cartridge), additional force will be required, but in order not to accidentally injure the hand, the flask can be glued with tape;
- It is important to follow the product labeling and install lamps of the appropriate voltage (220 or 12V) in the device.