Removing downlights from ceiling?

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Hi,

We have 4 downlights in the bathroom ceiling and in a few weeks we are getting it all done. The lights are fine but the chrome bezels are tarnished so would like to replace them.

How easy are they to remove? Can i do it from underneath or do i need to do it from above?

Also is it easy to find the right size replacements, they are just standard as far as im aware with the hole in the middle the size of a replaceable bulb
 
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You should be able to remove them from below.
They are held in with sprung devices, do watch your fingers when you remove them!

You can then measure the holes in the ceiling and find replacements of that size. Of course you could use ones that need s bigger hole and cut the hole bigger.

At this time, it maybe best to look for LED downlights. They'll last much longer and, if you choose mains ones, you'll be able to do away with the power supply boxes that you probably have on each light.

Side note to forum "experts"..
I have deliberately used DIY speak here. Please start a new topic, if you wish to challenge my terminology.
 
You should be able to remove them from below.
They are held in with sprung devices, do watch your fingers when you remove them!

You can then measure the holes in the ceiling and find replacements of that size. Of course you could use ones that need s bigger hole and cut the hole bigger.

At this time, it maybe best to look for LED downlights. They'll last much longer and, if you choose mains ones, you'll be able to do away with the power supply boxes that you probably have on each light.

Side note to forum "experts"..
I have deliberately used DIY speak here. Please start a new topic, if you wish to challenge my terminology.
Ok cheers, will give them a go tomorrow.

Regarding LEDs for now i was thinking of just getting LED bulbs if possible. I see some are a bit hit and miss whether they work as a direct replacement or not. What would i be looking for when i pull them out to see if a LEF bulb would in fact work? Im on the MR16 bulbs at the moment. Have seen you can possibly convert to GU10 holders but havent looked into that at all yet
 
We have 4 downlights in the bathroom ceiling and in a few weeks we are getting it all done.
Opportunities to abandon the idea of trying to light a room by using small torches recessed into the ceiling don't come along very often.

Seize this one with both hands before it gets away.
 
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Switched Mode Power Supply

What is normally referred to as a "transformer". Winston always insists on everybody using his approved terms.
His pedantry on this particular matter is EXACTLY why I said in my post above
Side note to forum "experts"..
I have deliberately used DIY speak here. Please start a new topic, if you wish to challenge my terminology.

My suggestion is that you use the forum tools to ignore Winston. You'll then find the forum experience much more enjoyable and useful.
>tap on his name and then select "ignore". Go on, it's fun!
 
Switched Mode Power Supply

What is normally referred to as a "transformer". Winston always insists on everybody using his approved terms.
His pedantry on this particular matter is EXACTLY why I said in my post above


My suggestion is that you use the forum tools to ignore Winston. You'll then find the forum experience much more enjoyable and useful.
>tap on his name and then select "ignore". Go on, it's fun!

I don't know about fun, but I'm definitely a happier person since I did this :)
 
Direct replacement of MR16 lamps with LED equivalents can cause problems depending on your transformers. It is difficult to tell if you'll have trouble without actually trying a replacement, but in general "electronic transformers" fitted from about 2000 - 2010 (?) is likely to give trouble. Older magnetic transformers usually work fine, while newer electronic versions are a bit cleverer and more likely to work without trouble. Any dimmer you have on this type of light is unlikely to work with LED replacements.

You can do a number of things to use LEDs. You can replace some or all of the transformers to match up the minimum load to your new LED lamps. If you're rewiring this way, it may just be simpler to remove the transformers completely and replace with mains equivalents (ie. GU10s). There are compelling reasons to prefer MR16s (12V) over GU10s (240V) with halogen bulbs, but the LED equivalents perform essentially identically except the GU10s will almost certainly work flawlessly and the MR16s quite likely won't. Switching needs new holders with a GU10 base and bypassing the transformers to wire directly to the mains. This can usually be done with the existing holes and if you're lucky you'll have enough wire that you won't need access from above.

Or, as mentioned, replace entirely with a type of light better-suited to lighting up the room instead of a small circle of the floor, if that is what you need them for.
 
Thanks all. Think ill go down the route of just changing to the GU10 units, they are cjeap enough and i only need 4.

With regards to lighting up the room, the 4 halogens currently in use light it up fine, will LED's be any different?
 
What about 240V MR16 lamps?
Or even 230V ones.


Let's not perpetuate the manufacturers' ignorance, please.
Indeed.

Using "MR16" to refer to a lamp which is 2" in diameter and is sort-of the shape of an MR16, and will probably fit most luminaires designed for them, even if it does not have a multifaceted reflector is one thing, but this is quite another:


Direct replacement of MR16 lamps with LED equivalents can cause problems depending on your transformers.
Not all MR16 lamps are powered by transformers, either electronic or wire-wound.


If you're rewiring this way, it may just be simpler to remove the transformers completely and replace with mains equivalents (ie. GU10s). There are compelling reasons to prefer MR16s (12V) over GU10s (240V) with halogen bulbs, but the LED equivalents perform essentially identically except the GU10s will almost certainly work flawlessly and the MR16s quite likely won't.
Most GU10 lamps have MR16 envelopes. A good number of MR16 lamps have GU10 or GZ10 bases and work at 230V.

And this is not pointless pedantry. There was a time when people did conflate MR16 with ELV, and mostly got away with it, because even though GU10-based LV lamps also had MR16 envelopes, there was a widespread tradition that "GU10" was used for LV lamps, and "MR16" was used to also mean ELV with a G5.3 base.

That time appears to be over.

I don't think it is any longer safe to assume that referring to a lamp size and shape, when that shape is used with lamps with more than one type of base and more than one operating voltage, will always, or often enough, mean that the lamp has one particular base and one particular operating voltage.
 

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