Recessed downlight issues

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The house I recently moved into has 4 recessed down lights in the kitchen ceiling, but yesterday one of them fell away from the ceiling. It turns out the down light is a very old model (1990!) and the plastic clips holding it in had both snapped.

My question is, would it be easier to replace the clips with new metal spring loaded clips (if so where could I find one to fit this model) or to remove all 4 down lights and replace them all with newer models (although my electrics knowledge is limited)?

Any help or advice would be appreciated! :)
 
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Remove all 4 downlights
Replace with a proper means of lighting this room (fluorescent strip, e.g.)
Have ceiling replastered
 
I was thinking that I'd probably have to replace the down lights rather than fix them. I don't really have the time or funds for a replastering jobby.

How easy is it to replace down lights? i.e. the wiring involved.

Thanks.
 
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If you use downlights with the same type of lamp (usually MR16 or GU10) then there's no wiring involved.
Just swop the fitting and off you go. But it won't improve your lighting situation.
 
For the small 50mm units to work they have to be aimed off a light surface often the floor is dark and so they need to protrude to an extent to allow them to be reflected from the wall.

With low voltage (230vac) GU10 lamps easy to swap to LEDs but with extra low voltage (12) MR16 often the voltage reduction unit also needs swapping. It depends how old. In the beginning we used simple transformers to step down the voltage these work OK with LED. Then we moved to an electronic unit these have a minimum current and often need replacing before you can use LED units.

Lamps like this
m3B4QxUPo81-UyRVtpEPzag.jpg
work well as you can bounce the light of something light.
 
The down light in question is currently hanging out of the ceiling by a wire. It doesn't look as though I can just replace the unit without any wiring involved. It is a particularly old unit and the only piece of information I can find on the unit itself is Ascot.

Thanks,
 
If it had plastic clips, I doubt you can get similar replacement clips.

You need to measure the diameter of the hole in the ceiling, and we can suggest some fittings that will fit the hole.

In the meantime, it would be useful to know what kind of lamp (bulb) the current fitting takes, so we can find something suitable for the wiring you may have.

As suggested, the lamps may be GU10 or MR16, but bearing in mind you state these are from 1990, it could be some form of ES (screw in) lamp, R80 or something.

If the hole size is particularly big, converter fittings are available.
 
I think I may well need a converter fitting as the current hole is 6 inches in diameter. The bulb inside is just a simple 60W screw in spotlight (thin at the screw in end, and almost disc like at the bulb end).

The actual current fitting looks like this:

View media item 75979
Thanks.
 
Sounds like you need the converter type.

Probably best to go for GU10 nowadays, LED lamps can be obtained as lamp replacements which are much more efficient.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. Think I've now got all the information I need to to get this issue resolved.

Thanks again.
 

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