Changing downlights / spotlights in old house - ceiling issues?

steve866

Hi,
I recently bought a terrace house (built approx 1900 and generally in good order, well maintained). There are a few spotlights that are no longer working to today we decided to take one out to identify the type required to order some replacements. They are held in place by a thin metal wire/surround which you can squeeze to release the bulb. 
1st attempt - dead bulb was taken from the living room, it came out fine but the bulb was old and no longer had any text on it identifying the specific bulb type.
2nd attempt - dead bulb attempted to be taken from the dining room, the wire came off fairly easily but the bulb appeared to be 'pushed in' too far was wedged. Any attempt to move the bulb just seemed to make the problem worse.
3rd attempt - working bulb attempted to be removed from dining room. Wire came off easily and bulb was slightly wedged but managed to massage it out with my hand, the more I moved the bulb the more dust came through the hole, eventually fairly significant chunks of what I assume was plaster started to come out (the largest being roughly the size of a £2 coin).
Should I be worried about this plaster coming through the hole? I'm not really sure how to proceed, it feels a bit ridiculous to potentially hire a professional to change some bulbs?

Thanks

niktheguru

it would be useful for you to upload some pictures of what you are talking about. Can't really advise just based on your description.
Its likely you have GU10 retrofit spotlights, (these are the bulbs which have 2 pins with thicker knobbly bits at the bottom of the pins, rather than just straight pins) The bulbs are straight forward to change if you have got them out and disconnected them, you just buy new GU10 bulbs (which range from £1 upwards depending on quality and warmth of light required (generally you get warm white (which is yellowish like normal bulbs), cool white (which is much more bright showroom white) and daylight (my preferred, which is in the middle))

For the one where the light is stuck if you show us a pic we can advise if it is salvagable. Otherwise you would need to change the downlight unit (and either replace like for like, for one with changeable bulbs, or there are non non removable bulb downlights.
What you would need to know is if the other fittings are low voltage fittings (attached to a transformer) or standard voltage fitting. The older spotlights fitted tended to be low voltage, nowadays they are standard voltage.

Again, pictures will help. If you're uncertain or not electrically competent, call an electrician.

EssexExile

Don't worry about the plaster, all sorts of rubbish gets left in unseen places when work has been done to the house.
You can probably prise the whole fitting out of its hole in the ceiling, just get your nails or a blade behind the rim and pull it down, then it may be easier to remove the bulbs.

Money_Grabber13579

niktheguru said:

it would be useful for you to upload some pictures of what you are talking about. Can't really advise just based on your description.
Its likely you have GU10 retrofit spotlights, (these are the bulbs which have 2 pins with thicker knobbly bits at the bottom of the pins, rather than just straight pins) The bulbs are straight forward to change if you have got them out and disconnected them, you just buy new GU10 bulbs (which range from £1 upwards depending on quality and warmth of light required (generally you get warm white (which is yellowish like normal bulbs), cool white (which is much more bright showroom white) and daylight (my preferred, which is in the middle))

For the one where the light is stuck if you show us a pic we can advise if it is salvagable. Otherwise you would need to change the downlight unit (and either replace like for like, for one with changeable bulbs, or there are non non removable bulb downlights.
What you would need to know is if the other fittings are low voltage fittings (attached to a transformer) or standard voltage fitting. The older spotlights fitted tended to be low voltage, nowadays they are standard voltage.

Again, pictures will help. If you're uncertain or not electrically competent, call an electrician.

I would have thought that if the bulbs were held in by a wire clip, they are more likely to be low voltage (such as MR16 or GU5.3) rather than the mains voltage GU10 bulbs. That’s only based on my experience though, as any GU10 bulbs in my house either have the lamp holders fixed to the base of the spotlight and so don’t need a clip to hold the bulb in place or the bulb is held in place by a machined grove in the spotlight itself, with the bulb secured by a simple twist.

Only the low voltage spotlights I’ve seen have the metal clips securing the bulbs and they can be a real pain trying to secure them back in place again.

If one of the bulbs is stuck, probably best to try and remove the entire fitting from the ceiling as has been suggested above.  Watch that the clips securing it to the ceiling don’t snap back on your fingers though, as it will hurt!

missile

I had GU10 halogen bulb held in by metal wire like you have described.

I replaced the entire fittings with LED. Very easy DIY

rob7475

If replacing the units, it's better to fit a gu10 lamp holder and buy LED GU10 bulbs. Slightly more expensive initially but much easier when a bulb goes to replace just the bulb rather than having to replace the whole unit and trying to match what you currently have.