I need some advice on how best to do this.
I have existing soffit lights around the perimeter of the property, 38 of them. All of soffit panels are T1-11 2" OC - which they don't even make anymore, 4" and 8" I have seen, no more 2".
Anyways, these lights were originally installed in 1972. I had a few of them died. When I removed the can, some of the guts were corroded, and the wiring frayed.
The lights were made by Underwriters Laboratory, Inc. model E-15522, which they no longer made. I have a feeling most of these lights are living on borrowed time and I need to have them replaced.
Obviously I do not wish to pull down all the soffit panel and put on new ones. Some of these panels are angled and up high. So I am looking for ideas on how to replace them.
Here are the constraints.
#1, The way it's wired, is by hard pipe, EMT conduits. They have three circuits supplying power to these lights, running through the same conduits, one circuit powers light 1, 4, 7, 11...the next circuit powers lights 2, 5, 8, 12... and a third circuit powers corner lights and main landing lights. There is a 4"x4" junction box within a few inches of each light in the attic, and the pipes jumps from JB to JB to JB. If I remove a can the wire from the can to the adjacent JB is an armored cable.
#2, those are new construction lights, so when I pulled down one can, there is a rectangular metal frame around the hole. The hole is 6-3/4" in diameter. If I can find remodel lights that work, I might have to mark the locations of the clips and use a plier to flatten the circular "fins" of the existing metal frames.
Seems to me the easiest way is to find a remodel can that requires a 6-3/4" knock out hole, and run new wires from each nearby JB to the remodel JB. So far I am unable to identify one. Too small a hole, the clips won't catch the soffit. Too big a hole, I can't cut a bigger hole without running into the new construction metal frame.
The existing wires are #12 solid. They look fine. I can reach these JB by sticking my hand through these corresponding holes. However, from examining three of these boxes, the wires in the boxes are quite short, like 3" to 4" from where the conduits meet the box. So it looks like if I rewire a new light, I would have to do it at the box with one hand reaching through the knockout hole, practically blind. Is this possible? If not I would have to use new wires, long enough to pull outside of the hole so I can make the connection outside.
Most important question are there recessed lights that fits a 6-3/4" knock out hole?
I have existing soffit lights around the perimeter of the property, 38 of them. All of soffit panels are T1-11 2" OC - which they don't even make anymore, 4" and 8" I have seen, no more 2".
Anyways, these lights were originally installed in 1972. I had a few of them died. When I removed the can, some of the guts were corroded, and the wiring frayed.
The lights were made by Underwriters Laboratory, Inc. model E-15522, which they no longer made. I have a feeling most of these lights are living on borrowed time and I need to have them replaced.
Obviously I do not wish to pull down all the soffit panel and put on new ones. Some of these panels are angled and up high. So I am looking for ideas on how to replace them.
Here are the constraints.
#1, The way it's wired, is by hard pipe, EMT conduits. They have three circuits supplying power to these lights, running through the same conduits, one circuit powers light 1, 4, 7, 11...the next circuit powers lights 2, 5, 8, 12... and a third circuit powers corner lights and main landing lights. There is a 4"x4" junction box within a few inches of each light in the attic, and the pipes jumps from JB to JB to JB. If I remove a can the wire from the can to the adjacent JB is an armored cable.
#2, those are new construction lights, so when I pulled down one can, there is a rectangular metal frame around the hole. The hole is 6-3/4" in diameter. If I can find remodel lights that work, I might have to mark the locations of the clips and use a plier to flatten the circular "fins" of the existing metal frames.
Seems to me the easiest way is to find a remodel can that requires a 6-3/4" knock out hole, and run new wires from each nearby JB to the remodel JB. So far I am unable to identify one. Too small a hole, the clips won't catch the soffit. Too big a hole, I can't cut a bigger hole without running into the new construction metal frame.
The existing wires are #12 solid. They look fine. I can reach these JB by sticking my hand through these corresponding holes. However, from examining three of these boxes, the wires in the boxes are quite short, like 3" to 4" from where the conduits meet the box. So it looks like if I rewire a new light, I would have to do it at the box with one hand reaching through the knockout hole, practically blind. Is this possible? If not I would have to use new wires, long enough to pull outside of the hole so I can make the connection outside.
Most important question are there recessed lights that fits a 6-3/4" knock out hole?