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#31381 11/20/03 07:46 PM
Joined: Jun 2003
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DougW Offline OP
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Like circa 1928 style old...

Wondering how you folks deal with adding "new" lamps and such (designed for new, "eared" boxes and covers) to the old "pans" with the fixture studs center mounted in them?

(Yes, I know... remove the old pan and replace with new [Linked Image] .. thanks anyway)

Just curious about how other deal with this situation.

Thanks in advance,

DougW

Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,381
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Doug:
Reaching back in time and memory, there used to be "adaptors" that were either supplied with the fixture, or available at the lighting store. Now, I don't mean the "big box", the neighborhood store that sold fixtures a,d electrical materials. The guys that worked there could give you an adaptor, hickey, gland, or whatever you needed. Have a gas pipe old fixture, they had a cap/hickey combo to fit.

Granted, you needed a deep canopy to cover some of the combonations, but they had that too.

Today, with the demise of the specialty stores, and the growth of the big boxes, it's tough to find parts, or someone who understands what you are trying to do.

Guess it's time to replace the pancake??

John


John
Joined: Jun 2003
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DougW Offline OP
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Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

Chicago Lamp Parts company on Spaulding in Chi-town has hickeys and such, but I was just wondering what other folks are doing in these circumstances.

We used to have a little hardware store that had everything (like you describe), but, alas, they're gone, thanks to an aging owner and a BigOrangeBox 2 miles away.

Joined: Jul 2002
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SJT Offline
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I guess its pretty rough, if you don't have the 8/32 screw holes accessible, and just have a hickey to work with. I carry a life time supply of old hickeys and saved the old stuff, over the years. To change the box, would be reconmended if you were hanging a fan. Most of the time that OLD BOX is right under some good wood, and then you might be able to get a pancake box in there.
Good luck

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,392
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Member
I have had good luck with round w/m boxes here...

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,143
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DougW Offline OP
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Thanks for the replies.

The biggest problem I have is that
a)the small holes in the box aren't threaded (I've got a Klien tapper, so it's possible, just time consuming), and
b)most of the boxes are rivet mounted on steel straps mounted between joists - so I'd have to punch / grind out the rivets and then find a way to mount the new box.

Oh well... I guess this is the "artistic" part of our job, huh? [Linked Image]

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,116
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Doug,

How about replacing what you have with a Fan Brace?

[Linked Image from altura.speedera.net]

Bill


Bill
Joined: Jun 2003
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DougW Offline OP
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Though about something like that - even a slightly lighter weight version- but many of the pans have the strap across the top, and I'd have to whomp a chunk out of the ceiling to extract the old brace.

I'm able to use spacers and adapters to mount offset brackets, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a cleaner way...

Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 597
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Member
Compared to the alternatives, using the Triple-Tap would take the least time, hands down. I deal with this from time to time, and I think the time it takes to go out to the truck, pull out the fixture parts Kennedy case, root through all the possibles until I have the actuals and get back in. . .well, I'd have the holes tapped.

But here's another thought. What about drilling and tapping the back of the j-box? Just a thought, and a serious question. Given that the ears on the modern box are the same metal and thickness as the box itself, what about using a long enough 8-32 machine screw to secure the luminaire strap to the bottom (top?) of the ceiling j-box? I am assuming that there are two open spaces for the screw shafts along the box side wall, 180ยบ apart from each other, and that the volume/conductor count passes muster.


Al Hildenbrand
Joined: Oct 2000
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Doug,

Of course I can't see what you've got, but I've had good luck cutting the straps in the middle and bending the two halves out of the way. If the straps were nailed to the bottom of the joists they won't be in the way of installing a Fan bracket like this one because the legs will go over the old strap.

Bill


Bill
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