Hi there, I am aware this is supposed to be easy, but I have spend hours and have finally come upon a hurdle that I am not sure how to overcome.
I have a plastic electrical box in the ceiling, and it has two holes with which you can attach your fixture. The old fixture was attached that way via screws (bolts really I guess) that did not go all the way in but protruded through the fixture into keyhole slots.
New fixture had a strap included and 4 of these nutless bolts, 2 long and two shorter. The strap has on it two long slots and a screw for the grounding wire in case you didn't have one floating around I suppose, which I did not, so I grounded the copper wire from the fixture to this. Not sure it does any good with a plastic electrical box actually.
I have all the things put together and the fixture works, but I cannot hang it. I ASSUMED that it hung like the other one. We all know about assumptions. After struggling for a long time I finally got out a rule and discovered that the holes on my electric box are 3.5" apart, and those on the fixture are 3" apart. Therefore, can't use the same screws without drilling new holes (not a nice thought to me). I took some handy bolts (with nuts), put them though the slot (the nut keeping them from falling out) and hooked the fixture to that after a lot of effort. It is not the least bit secure, but quite wobbly as I can't tighten the bolts up. It does keep the fixture from hanging by the wires which seemed like a good idea. This is where I am at the moment. I am hoping someone knows of something I can do that is within my capabilities. Installing a new box is not something I would try -- particularly on this fixture (it is switched in a complicated manner).
Any ideas? I love the page I found saying it was trivial to just follow the manufacturers suggestions. I even took the page to my local and usually very helpful hardware store, but got no brilliant "this is what you need". He did say to take the fixture down and perhaps someone could offer me a suggestion -- might have to do that after Thanksgiving if I can't find a solution. I'm afraid the man I talked to had never hung a fixture. It seems it should be easy, and I really think trying to get screws through that insulation and into the holes is non-trivial, though perhaps easier if the distance is correct.
Thanks -- you'd never know my deceased husband was an electrician, or perhaps you would, as he would just do these things and I didn't have to. I am trying to get handy though.
Judy
I have a plastic electrical box in the ceiling, and it has two holes with which you can attach your fixture. The old fixture was attached that way via screws (bolts really I guess) that did not go all the way in but protruded through the fixture into keyhole slots.
New fixture had a strap included and 4 of these nutless bolts, 2 long and two shorter. The strap has on it two long slots and a screw for the grounding wire in case you didn't have one floating around I suppose, which I did not, so I grounded the copper wire from the fixture to this. Not sure it does any good with a plastic electrical box actually.
I have all the things put together and the fixture works, but I cannot hang it. I ASSUMED that it hung like the other one. We all know about assumptions. After struggling for a long time I finally got out a rule and discovered that the holes on my electric box are 3.5" apart, and those on the fixture are 3" apart. Therefore, can't use the same screws without drilling new holes (not a nice thought to me). I took some handy bolts (with nuts), put them though the slot (the nut keeping them from falling out) and hooked the fixture to that after a lot of effort. It is not the least bit secure, but quite wobbly as I can't tighten the bolts up. It does keep the fixture from hanging by the wires which seemed like a good idea. This is where I am at the moment. I am hoping someone knows of something I can do that is within my capabilities. Installing a new box is not something I would try -- particularly on this fixture (it is switched in a complicated manner).
Any ideas? I love the page I found saying it was trivial to just follow the manufacturers suggestions. I even took the page to my local and usually very helpful hardware store, but got no brilliant "this is what you need". He did say to take the fixture down and perhaps someone could offer me a suggestion -- might have to do that after Thanksgiving if I can't find a solution. I'm afraid the man I talked to had never hung a fixture. It seems it should be easy, and I really think trying to get screws through that insulation and into the holes is non-trivial, though perhaps easier if the distance is correct.
Thanks -- you'd never know my deceased husband was an electrician, or perhaps you would, as he would just do these things and I didn't have to. I am trying to get handy though.
Judy