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I have always hated fitting recessed downlighters.
But on todays job I have found some abomination of light fittings that must have been dreamt up by someone with a rather cruel sense of humour.
This is on a refurbishment following a flood, and everything specified by the architect, so no deviation, they have to be this particular fitting. (this is the refurb job that insisted on metal back boxes, so remember my thread, I bought those snap in ones, well I would NOT recommend them, they are rubbish)
So imagine a recessed fire rated downlighter with a GU10 lamp, but instead of it being recessed, it's surface mounted. So an aluminium tube about 100mm long and 60mm diameter (approximate, not measured dimensions)
The terminals are a bare choc block only ever so slightly recessed into the top. So for starters that's going to be fun looping two 1mm t&e's in and out. So that dictates a reasonable size hole in the ceiling to lose any spare wire. Handy as the builders have already drilled 1" "pilot" holes for me, bless them.
But the fixing holes to atach this thing to the ceiling are about 3mm diameter, two of them, but the ONLY access for the screw is remove the lamp and a long screwdriver through the tube of the fitting. So that's going to be one fiddly son of a ***** to even get some screw through.
But the biggest problem I face, is I need some suitable plasterboard fixings. Bear in mind that 3mm fixing hole, and that 1" pilot hole already in place, any PB fixing I fit will be close to the edge of that pilot hole so a risk of bursting the edge of the board.
And did I mention it's a double layer fire rated ceiling? but quite how this particular fitting maintains the fire rating beats me.
So any ideas of a suitable plasterboard fixing to do this? the usual ones I use, the metal screw in "redi driver" I think is too large.
I'm due to go back in a week to fit them. A job I'm not looking forward to. Bring back good old down lighters, at least they work.
But on todays job I have found some abomination of light fittings that must have been dreamt up by someone with a rather cruel sense of humour.
This is on a refurbishment following a flood, and everything specified by the architect, so no deviation, they have to be this particular fitting. (this is the refurb job that insisted on metal back boxes, so remember my thread, I bought those snap in ones, well I would NOT recommend them, they are rubbish)
So imagine a recessed fire rated downlighter with a GU10 lamp, but instead of it being recessed, it's surface mounted. So an aluminium tube about 100mm long and 60mm diameter (approximate, not measured dimensions)
The terminals are a bare choc block only ever so slightly recessed into the top. So for starters that's going to be fun looping two 1mm t&e's in and out. So that dictates a reasonable size hole in the ceiling to lose any spare wire. Handy as the builders have already drilled 1" "pilot" holes for me, bless them.
But the fixing holes to atach this thing to the ceiling are about 3mm diameter, two of them, but the ONLY access for the screw is remove the lamp and a long screwdriver through the tube of the fitting. So that's going to be one fiddly son of a ***** to even get some screw through.
But the biggest problem I face, is I need some suitable plasterboard fixings. Bear in mind that 3mm fixing hole, and that 1" pilot hole already in place, any PB fixing I fit will be close to the edge of that pilot hole so a risk of bursting the edge of the board.
And did I mention it's a double layer fire rated ceiling? but quite how this particular fitting maintains the fire rating beats me.
So any ideas of a suitable plasterboard fixing to do this? the usual ones I use, the metal screw in "redi driver" I think is too large.
I'm due to go back in a week to fit them. A job I'm not looking forward to. Bring back good old down lighters, at least they work.