303 dining lights

[akgourmet]

thanks for the feedback. I'll check the connections. It usually flickers right at startup and then stops after maybe a minute.

[Tom&Joan]

To all potential light replacers: I assumed the decorative "wood"panel was holding the lights in place, in reality it is the other way around. The three screws in the decorative panel do go into the thin paneling, but may not hold the decorative panel up, which is quite heavy. I did not trust the three screws to hold the decorative panel up while rewiring the lights, so I used a combination of blocks on the dining table and a bar clamp in the push mode. Probably clear as mud, right? Anyway, do NOT bother to take the three screws out, which was a mistake on my part, because in no way is that necessary to remove or reinstall a light. One part of the challenge is keeping the spring loaded "wings" on the lights in the vertical position. I used a small zip tie between them and reached in to cut them with scissors when the light was almost in place. The whole deal took way longer than it should have, partly because my 78 year old arms don't like working overhead as much as they used to.

I did take a couple of pics, but forgot to download them to the computer. Maybe tomorrow!

[Tom&Joan]

To continue, it was a mistake to take the three screws out and lower the decorative panel, as it is rather heavy. Whether you intend to replace both lights or just one, only change one at a time. They pull straight down. Just be sure not to let the mousetrap springs get your fingers. In the meantime, the light left in place along with the screws should be sufficient to hold the panel up. We had to come up with a Rube Goldberg method of holding the panel up as it proved impossible to hold it up by hand while rewireing etc.