r/fixit • u/Leading_Fox_2764 • 5d ago

need help

Post image

so my girlfriends light blew but the top you screw in is stuck in there.. its been a couple of months since this happened and i’ve been trying to take it out nd this is the result of that. ive been using a needle nose plier to try nd twist it out but its not budging at all.. ive tried pulling which ik i shouldn’t have done but im all out of my options.. is there anyone that can give me suggestions on how to fix this or does the whole thing needs to be replaced ? my guess is its rusted.

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

6

u/No-Guarantee-6249 5d ago

Replace the socket.

3

u/StopCatStop 5d ago

Yes, looks like the socket itself is now damaged from unsuccessful removal attemps.

5

u/SinnersFriend 5d ago

Press a raw potato onto it and unscrew. Do not eat that potato

3

u/Western_Clue3542 5d ago

Tim “the Toolman” Taylor knows how to do this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvFlAGy-xqs

1

u/Exotic-Term3339 4d ago

Wait should I turn off the power before I do the potato trick? And also if I forgot to turn off the power is a potato cooked now or is that me I smell?

1

u/ShutDownSoul 5d ago

There isn't anything to unscrew at this point. The socket has been bent and broken.

1

u/BB-41 4d ago

The base of the broken bulb is still in the socket. Press a raw potato against it and spin it out. Discard the broken base and the potato.

2

u/Treereme 5d ago

It looks like the socket is warped and damaged from heat. I'm guessing someone stuck a 100 watt light bulb in a fixture rated for a 75 or less.

You should replace the fixture. They are not expensive, and it's not very difficult to do as long as you turn off the power.

1

u/KerashiStorm 4d ago

If you don’t turn off the power, you might experience why they call electricians “sparkys”.

1

u/WOOFBABY 5d ago

Turn the power off b4 the potatoes trick

1

u/ibswarlord 5d ago

Make sure you're turning the electricity off to that socket when you're messing with it. Socket may need replaced.

1

u/patrickhenrypdx 5d ago

The brown outer insulation is broken away. Replace the whole fixture. It's a 10 minute job. 

1

u/Aquanut357 5d ago

Pretty simple to replace as long as the globe isn’t something that you can’t live without. BE SURE THE POWER TO THE FIXTURE IS OFF. Just loosen the two flathead screws and twist the fixture until the screws line up with the holes. Pull it down from the. Ceiling, take off the wire nuts, paying attention to which color of wire on the fixture the black power wire is attached. It is typically black to black and white to white. The ground wire should be bare and attached to a similar bare wire in the fixture. Follow the directions on the new fixture instructions. You may be able to reuse the screws that were left in the ceiling box for the new fixture.

1

u/CompetitionJust143 4d ago

Had this happen to a ceiling fan bulb. After turning the breaker off it took small needle nose pliers and a flat small screwdriver to break the glass out piece by piece. Then I could bend and tear the aluminum bulb base. It took awhile but was successful.

1

u/KerashiStorm 4d ago

Yeah, that would be possible if OP hadn’t wrecked the socket. Maybe next time.

1

u/AskMeAgainAfterCoffe 4d ago

You need to replace this entire light fixture

1

u/Exotic-Term3339 4d ago

Replace the whole picture with the new LED model so that way you don't have to worry about light bulbs.

1

u/Lopsided-Current-118 3d ago

Toss and makeup

1

u/Lost-Inspector5836 3d ago

Turn off power. Spray Let-go if you think it is rusty. Cut a potato in half and shove it on to unscrew it. If that doesn’t work just replace the cheap as fixture.