Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Fix A Broken Pendant Light

The other day I flipped on the lights in our kitchen and noticed one of the two pendants over the table was out.

Light Fix Turned Off

No biggie, right? The previous owners had thoughtfully left us a spare bulb (since they take tiny special ones) so I popped it in there and voi… nothing. Darn. Apparently my fix wouldn’t be that easy.

I’m no electrician, but I figured-slash-hoped I could diagnose and solve the problem without having to call in help and/or buy a new light. Not that we have any special attachment to these fixtures in particular. In fact, we’ll probably replace them for one larger light fixture over the island that we plan to add when we start overhauling the kitchen. But since we aren’t quite ready to go down that road (which always seems to snowball into chaos if you’re not ready for it), I had my sights set on saving this fella first. So off went the power to the whole house (call me Captain Better Safe Than Sorry) and down came the light.

Light Fix Taken Down

I tried tightening the wire caps in the ceiling. Maybe something had come loose? No luck.

I tried swapping bulbs with the working light. Maybe my spare bulb was a dud? Nope. Not it.

I tried removing it and reattaching it entirely, just because I was running out of ideas. Still nothing.

At this point Sherry was batting her eyelashes and sweetly requesting that I “leave it alone for now” (read: give up) because she could tell that I was losing patience with all of my light-related failures. And also because I accidentally dropped a screwdriver on my face (and might have cursed pretty loudly) during my latest attempt. Go me.

Speaking of short fuses, I even tried cutting the now-frayed wire ends off of the fixture and exposing some new fresh wire to see if that would help. All I ended up with was shorter wires. But still no illumination. Sigh.

Light Fix Supplies

Thanks for sticking with me through this riveting play by play by the way. At this point I’m ready to take Sherry’s advice and admit defeat.

My last task is just to put the darn thing back together so no wires are left exposed while we go light shopping. That’s when I noticed something on the bottom of the light. The white wire going into the light socket had somehow become unattached. I hadn’t noticed it before, so my guess is that maybe it was loose to start with, and all of my recent manhandling had knocked it completely out. So after a bit more manhandling (and basically disassembling the socket completely) I was able to get the white wire secured back into place:

Light Fix Close Up Wire

And that, my friends, is how I showed this light who’s boss.

Light Fix Back On

Don’t mind the wonky shade, I straightened that out after snapping this photo (well, after Sherry pointed out that it looked crooked).

Now I realize the specifics of this electrical solution smackdown hardly apply to everyone who ever has a light out, but it does go to show you that sometimes a little persistence (and a screwdriver dropped on your face) can solve a problem if you stick with it. Kinda like when we managed to fix the pocket door in the last house by flailing around aimlessly and trying a few different things. Maybe we’ll put the money that we saved on buying an interim replacement fixture towards a slightly more expensive permanent fixture someday when we actually dive headfirst into the whole kitchen redo. Call it a celebratory splurge. In case you’re wondering, Sherry has her eye on this one in white. Although knowing us we’ll be too cheap to pull the trigger and it’ll sell out, forcing us to DIY something or hit up a local lighting outlet in search of something else that lights our fire. And that my friends, is my second post of the day that ends with a cringeworthy pun. You’re welcome.

Comments

    • Stephanie Phillips says

      In this is the dorktastic comment I leave when scrambling to be first. I posted first!

      Seriously, I check you twice a day (and you’re already on my google reader). It’s the hi-light of my afternoon when I get to snort-laugh along with the Petersiks.

    • Future Mama says

      Ditto to liking the puns. My husband is also quite fond of them! When I informed him I couldn’t check out the book from the library that he wanted he told me “That was fine,” and then proceeded to explain his fine/overdue library joke pun in much more detail than necessary ;-)

      Much love,
      Future Mama
      http://expectingablessing.blogspot.com/

  2. Amanda says

    What would you estimate your success rate is on this kind of project (the “I don’t really know how to fix this but I’ll give it a shot” kind)? In our house a “quick fix” usually involves a whole new problem ;)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yeah we don’t mind them, we just figure that something larger and more centered over the island we’ll build would look nice and balanced. But we have one of these guys in our bedroom above the sink nook and it’s nice and clean and simple (so our other crazy ikea pendant can be the star, haha).

      xo,
      s

  8. Sarah says

    Wow John, you are all over the post writing these days!

    I know you enjoy a good modern family quote so:

    Luke: She’s like the best doctor every. A couple of puzzles. No shots. I didn’t even have to take my pants off. I found that one out a little late.
    Phil: I’ve been there buddy.

    Reply

  9. Amy L. says

    Hilarious! My super gentle even-keeled husband becomes a sailor during house projects. He taunts and teases screws that won’t go in right, tiles that won’t come off a wall, and drywall screws that miss the framing behind it. It is both hysterical and not appropriate for children to be around. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, does he do that behind the wheel too? John suddenly becomes very tough when someone cuts him off and that person can’t hear him smack talk through the glass. But if the window’s open. Not even a mutter. It’s hilarious.

      xo,
      s

  11. Kit says

    I am MOST excited to see what you do with the kitchen…I can’t wait. It’s like a cliffhanger. :)

    Reply

  12. katie says

    Go John! We recently DIY’ed our entire electic plan on our kitchen reno and it is a small miracle that we managed to stay married. Electric work can be infuriating! ;)

    Reply

    • Ashley says

      I’m working on one of those right now… and not to be a debbie downer but it is def a labor intensive project! So far I’ve spent 4 or 5 hours on it and it’s barely halfway done. Let’s cross our fingers and hope it looks swank-i-fied in the end!

    • Chrissy Henry says

      I have been looking for a goof DIY tutorial for a capiz light FOEVER!! The only ones I can find involve milk jugs… and I just don’t know if I can ever have the same love for a bunch of plastic milk jug cut outs as I do for real capiz shell lights.

      If anyone has a good tutorial I would like the link!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      There are a few others people have linked to further back. And if you search capiz on Pinterest I think a bunch come up (there’s a wax paper one from DesignSponge). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  15. emily @ the happy home says

    working with electricity scares the bejesus outta me. good call on shutting off power to the whole house!

    loud curses are part of our toolkits, really. but i suppose we don’t have little ears in the house that will eventually repeat all of mom & dad’s vocabulary.

    you ok? no stitches needed? still have both your eyeballs?

    Reply

  16. Carolyn says

    Love the light fixture Sherry likes. My freshman year of college I bought a cheap pink lamp shade from ebay that said it was shells like that one, but it turned out to be transparent plastic circles with an iridescent finish on them. Very disappointing. Maybe someday I’ll get a legit one

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes I love those! I definitely think about DIYing one myself but I’m not sure if I’m in love with the actual weightiness and sound and sheen of real capiz (we had a capiz chandy in our old house’s bedroom and loved the sound when a gentle breeze blew through the window).

      xo,
      s

  18. Sarah says

    The screwdriver story makes me feel slightly better about the bed post dropped on my arm while assembling a four-poster king sized bed this weekend. It could’ve been sharp and pointy, adding a stab wound to the bruise ;-). Congratulations on the fix – always nice when it works out.

    Reply

  19. Thelma musser says

    I thought you were going to conclude that you discovered the wires were cooked above the lightbulb. We have that exact light, and just last week it quit working. We went through all the exact steps you mentioned…new bulb, ect. It was then we discovered the wires were completely cooked. And then light was only months old and was one of a set of two. We headed back to Lowes were we purchased them, only to find out they are on buy back from the manager recall for whatever reason (burning too hot and cooking wires perhaps??). We took both light fixtures back and mentioned how it burned out and was on recall. They promptly took both of them back and refunded our money sans a reciept ( they were able to see via our credit card number that we had purchased them there).
    So anyway. Little heads up there on your light. Make sure it doesn’t cook when you’re not looking.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      OOh thanks for the warning! These are around a decade old (they were installed when some of the kitchen was updated – with a new microwave, etc) so I think they’re safe. Whew.

      xo,
      s

  20. Traci says

    Ahhh…. I really do enjoy having a boyfriend who can fix almost anything…. if only he’d take the time to do it. It took 6 months for him to install a vanity bar I bought on ultra-mega sale, and it’s been a year and a half since the oven broke (still hasn’t gotten to that one). So, I am thinking the only way I’ll get him to fix those things around the house is to start writing a blog about it…..nothing like pressure. :-)

    Reply

  21. Deb D. says

    My neighbor has the West Elm fixture over her dining room table. It’s awesome. She’s had it several years, so you may be in luck that it will still be around when you get to the new kitchen! Love the blog — totally inspired to tackle new projects in our new house in June!

    Reply

  22. Nette @ This Dusty House says

    I am officially excited for the briefly mentioned kitchen re-do! I love your style and I can’t wait to see what you come up with as a replacement for all that wood panelling!

    One question… with a project that SEEMS like such a small project to begin with… at what point do you decide that it’s big enough for a blog post and pull out your camera?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      As long as it’s not “we changed a light bulb” we usually pull out the camera and post about it. Haha. This blog has always sort of been a diary about every mundane home-related detail (the good, the bad, and the ugly). So the small stuff always has a place here (don’t want people to start to think our life is exciting, haha). I’d actually say that the meat and potatoes of YHL is the average everyday stuff that keeps us busy and hopefully helps someone else out there going through something similar. And occasionally we save up enough to tackle something major and exciting like a bathroom redo or a kitchen overhaul, which is always the most fun!

      xo,
      s

  23. DebInNYC says

    TAAA DAAA You did it!

    Two thoughts, love the light but shells + kitchen grease= really hard to clean!

    Reply

  24. Erin says

    Be still my heart, that is my MOST FAVORITE west elm light ever. No, no, favorite chandelier ever – from anywhere. I covet it, and plan to purchase just as soon as OUR kitchen reno is done, and we have a dinning room again! I litterally stalk it every week, just to make sure it’s still there. LOL. :) Boo to my husband who won’t let me purhcase it before we’re ready to hang it!

    Reply

  26. Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says

    I LOVE that lamp from west elm! You guys should get it! Maybe put it over your dining room table?? Or over the kitchen island after you re-do the kitchen?? So many options, but I think you should get it. Or at least start looking around for a similar one (just in case it does get discontinued, you’ll have time).

    Reply

  27. jess says

    My master bedroom fan takes that kind of light bulb as well. We kept having problems with them “busting” i.e. the bulbs going out and exploding some type of gas into the bulb itself. The nice man at Home Depot told us that on those types of bulbs it’s important NOT to touch the glass (which we so were, screwing it in), that the slightest bit of pressure can cause a minor crack in the glass then gas can leak out and cause it to bust. Just thought I’d share that tid-bit with you all!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Woah- thanks. Good to know! The previous owners told us not to touch the bulb with our fingers (so we just hold the base of it) but she said something about the oils on your fingers can heat up and cause it to crack/blow? Talk about high maintenance light bulbs. Haha. So weird!

      xo,
      s

    • Jamie says

      We have light bulbs like that in the bathroom, and fair warning, they really can explode sending shards of glass everywhere! So be careful with them

  30. Beth-BTW says

    Good work, John! I am a persistent one, myself, so I understand and applaud your letting that light know who’s boss.

    The capiz light you like hangs in our dining room. I tagged it as *the one* ages ago and shortly after doing so, you guys put it on one of your mood boards!! I planned on waiting to grab one, but your mood board forced my hand – thinking that it was going to sell out and be lost to me forever. So happy it worked that way! I’ve enjoyed that light every day since. =)

    Reply

  32. Tamrah Ryan says

    If you were planning on making your own, but with real capiz shells, might I suggest putting an ad out on cragslist for the shells? I’m going to make a few of my own chandeliers and have been searching for real shells for quite some time. I remembered a bride we photographed who used a TON of them in her wedding decor, so we worked out a trade (photo prints for shells). Not too shabby! I think it’s common enough wedding decor where you might be able to score some very cheaply… just a thought!

    (Sorry for the unsolicited advice, does that get hard to deal with sometimes??)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes I love those, just not sure if I love the real capiz effect more (the weightiness allows them to create a wind-chime-ish sound when a breeze blows through, which we love about real capiz fixtures- we had one in our old bedroom).

      xo,
      s

  34. Jessie says

    Just an FYI, I work at a lighting store that sells a very similiar pendant. Not sure if you were aware of this or not, but it is VERY important to never touch the glass on these bulbs. The oils in your fingers cause “cold spots” on the bulb and causes it to burn out way before it’s time. Every customer I have who buys one I always recommend either wearing rubber gloves to replace or hold the bulb in a tissue. If you did touch the bulb, no worries, just wipe it down with rubbing alcohol that will remove the oils.

    Reply

  35. Maky says

    OK, as a computer support person I was admiring your logical troubleshooting skills regarding the light fixture. Until you stumbled upon the actual problem, at which point I likened it to ‘Is the computer plugged in?’ in the computer support world LOL! Basic, but hits the spot each time! :) Well done for eventually uncovering the evil-doer.
    P.S. LOVE the capiz chandelier!

    Reply

  37. Julie says

    Sometimes when a light stops working it is actually the switch. Especially the newer flat decora switches (although those are probably not in your house). It’s only a couple of dollars fix.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think this is the wrong blog if you’re looking for major stuff every day. Haha. We’ve posted about everything from a napkin that we love to a sadly beheaded ceramic animal and we’ve actually only gutted one kitchen and one bathroom in nearly 4 years of blogging. So we’re all about sharing the small stuff along with the bigger stuff that we occasionally tackle after we save our pennies and research it within an inch of it’s life (like the patio that John’s outside banging away on right now). We’re real peeps with a real timeline and a real budget- so our life is pretty boring and average actually. Haha. But there are some awesome shows on HGTV with a big reveal every 30 minutes!

      xo,
      s

  39. Claire says

    Seeing another pic of your kitchen made me wonder: how do you guys deal with having to live with less-than-ideal rooms/decor while you save up the money to work on it? You obviously put a lot of value on having a home that you love, so it seems like putting up with something that’s not that would be difficult for you. Or no? I ask because I feel like I continually am unhappy with my decor and it really drags me down. Suggestions?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      In some odd way we love the kitchen because we look at it and see potential, which makes us excited. That was one of “the clincher rooms for us” (meaning we saw it during a walk through and knew we had to have it) just because we’re so excited about how much we can do to change it and make it ours. So I guess even though it’s not ours yet it helps to be excited about that someday it will be thanks to all that raw potential slash ugliness. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  40. gloria says

    I have that capiz light in dining room and I Luhhhve it. I actually got it during a sale and saved $50 on it. I had been looking at it for months so of course I swooped in on it like an eagle on a small dog. It took about an hour all by myself to unwrap the dang thing, probly as long as making one! Favorite home purchase!

    Reply

    • Jaclyn says

      Argh gloria, on behalf of Burger I’d like to point out the rather serious chihuahua faux pas in your statement…

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, thankfully now that Burger’s 8-9lbs we’re less worried about the whole birdnapping thing (when he was 3lbs I would stand near him when the big birds came flying by like a protective/paranoid momma- haha).

      xo,
      s

    • gloria says

      That actually happened to a friend of mine! I’ve personally see them get squirrels, rabbits and other birds. I have a small dog too now, so hide yo dogs, hide yo small pets and children…

  41. Kim says

    They are likely halogen bulbs. Same thing happened to us with our flood lights. We chose them because they were lower profile than regular flood lights. If I’d known how high maintenance they were, I might have reconsidered. We are not into high maintenance!

    Reply

  43. Adam says

    John- if you’re at all into the fantasy novel genre you should read at least the first three Xanth novels by Piers Anthony (A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, and Castle Roogna). They contain an exceptional array of puns and (if you enjoy/survive the first three they only get punnier, if you will).

    And way to take one for the team (read: sorry about gravity and the screw driver tag teaming you).

    Reply

  46. Kat says

    This is totally off-topic, but I didn’t see this addressed in any of your FAQ.

    Do you have experience with painting over lead paint? Or know of any good tutorials on it?

    Everything I find is just warnings ABOUT lead paint.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      From what we understand, if you have lead paint that is not flaking and peeling, the recommended “fix” is to just paint over it with new latex paint (which essentially “seals” the lead beneath a new clean coat of non-lead paint. If it’s flaking and peeling, that’s when you call in the experts to sand and skim and repaint it (never sand lead paint yourself!). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  47. Bridget says

    So wondering if you are going to change the knobs on the kitchen cabnits- pretty but doesn’t seem like you guys so I was just wondering! Happy Cinco De Mayo and thanks for sharing all your wonderful adventures!

    Reply

  49. catherine says

    We have that capiz chandelier from West Elm and I love it every time I look at it. It was worth them money in my opinion because it makes me so very happy!

    Reply

  50. Mike at The Big Stick says

    John – have to get you over your fear of electricity. I don’t like it either but with caution it’s not as risky as you think. You just need a well-labeled fuse box and a voltage tester. That way you don’t have to shut the whole house down every time. I’ve replaced/upgraded roughly 35 lights in our last two houses. I just make sure to touch every wire with the voltage tester before I use my hand to make sure there is nothing live and so far, so good.

    Reply

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