320 DC accent lights

Update from lake: lens does not pop out and they are not plastic.
Glass! And it shattered! I have inspected this fixture
closely and to be truthful, I do not see any easy way to pop
the lens off

So today I will attempt to remove the other lens. I figure
it will shatter as well. So once home it'll be a trip to
Home Depot for some plastic lens covers and I'll make
my own lenses that will in fact pop out!!!!

I sure love the pleasures of boat ownership!!!!
 
Before you break anything else, can you post us a picture of the light?
 
tawcat said:
Update from lake: lens does not pop out and they are not plastic.
Glass! And it shattered! I have inspected this fixture
closely and to be truthful, I do not see any easy way to pop
the lens off

So today I will attempt to remove the other lens. I figure
it will shatter as well. So once home it'll be a trip to
Home Depot for some plastic lens covers and I'll make
my own lenses that will in fact pop out!!!!

I sure love the pleasures of boat ownership!!!!
Click to expand...

I might suggest not going with a plastic lens if the original was glass and you are putting the Halogen back in.

Most likely the reason it was glass is if the hot bulb were to come loose and fall out, it could start a fire and the glass lens would contain the hot bulb. I do not think plastic would give you the same safety factor, or it might just discolor and bubble up, no idea.

OTOH, would be no problem if you replaced with LED as they do not get hot to the touch at all. You could scorch your skin on a hot G4 bulb which was OEM on my boat.

sorry you broke it, you must have a newer and different fixture than mine. Mine pop off quite easily as mentioned before by others.
 
Okay here is a link to some pictures I took of the light fixtures. If I didn't think the whole friggin thing would be difficult to pull out, I'd replace both of them... Just click on the light picture below.

 
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Uplate said:
I might suggest not going with a plastic lens if the original was glass and you are putting the Halogen back in.

Most likely the reason it was glass is if the hot bulb were to come loose and fall out, it could start a fire and the glass lens would contain the hot bulb. I do not think plastic would give you the same safety factor, or it might just discolor and bubble up, no idea.

OTOH, would be no problem if you replaced with LED as they do not get hot to the touch at all. You could scorch your skin on a hot G4 bulb which was OEM on my boat.

sorry you broke it, you must have a newer and different fixture than mine. Mine pop off quite easily as mentioned before by others.
Click to expand...

Trust me if the lens accidently comes loose and the bulb falls out, I'm sinking the boat!!!!!
 
thats completely different from mine. It appears to me from the photos that it is probably similar to a household ceiling "can" light. while I cannot say for sure, it is likely that the entire fixture drops down with a couple of spring clamps. just like the can lights in a home ceiling. It is the trim that holds it all together, did you try pulling down on the outer trim ring?
 
Those look the same as the lights in my cabin. As the prior post says, the entire fixture comes out. Some are tighter than others, but they all drop out. Better off using your fingers to avoid tearing the liner on the ceiling. Get a finger under an edge and pull down. Once one side of the fixture starts coming down you can move your finger around the top until the entire fixture drops from the ceiling. There are two wings that will flip down hard as you get the fixture out of the ceiling, so watch your fingers. Once you get it out, you will realize how simple they are to pull out, but it takes one or two to get the hang of it. They go back in a lot easier than they come out. Once the fixture is hanging from ceiling, you twist off the back if the fixture to get to the bulb. Good timing, since I just figured this out on my boat tonight.

Good luck..
 
tawcat said:
Okay here is a link to some pictures I took of the light fixtures. If I didn't think they whole friggin thing would be difficult to pull out, I'd replace both of them... Just click on the light picture below.

Click to expand...

Those are different than the ones I was describing to you. Good thing you posted the pic, because from the various posts it seemed like you had a different style.

Looks like you go the advice you needed.
 
Dani-Lu said:
Those look the same as the lights in my cabin. As the prior post says, the entire fixture comes out. Some are tighter than others, but they all drop out. Better off using your fingers to avoid tearing the liner on the ceiling. Get a finger under an edge and pull down. Once one side of the fixture starts coming down you can move your finger around the top until the entire fixture drops from the ceiling. There are two wings that will flip down hard as you get the fixture out of the ceiling, so watch your fingers. Once you get it out, you will realize how simple they are to pull out, but it takes one or two to get the hang of it. They go back in a lot easier than they come out. Once the fixture is hanging from ceiling, you twist off the back if the fixture to get to the bulb. Good timing, since I just figured this out on my boat tonight.

Good luck..
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info, however, I doubt I am going to mess with it any longer. My fear of course is tearing the liner and then ending up with a pi$$ed off Admiral and a bigger repair problem and bill.

So I am going with my plan of popping (shattering) out the other lens, fabricate my own lens covers and replacing the halogen with LED's. The LED's are expensive, but a whole lot cheaper than repairing a headliner.

Whomever thought that kind of fixture was good needs to rethink their idea!!!
 
Don't give up hope, yet! You might be making a lot more work for yourself. If the lights come apart as mentioned above, it's a very simple and easily accessible design.

Do you have an overhead fan in your home's bathroom? They typically come out the same way. Just pull it down a few inches and then compress the spring clips.
 
As much pulling and turning and yanking and twisting and.......... I did on that fixture one would think it would have shown some little indication of moving!!!!!

I'll look at it the next time I'm at the boat, but I am not fretting any longer. The Admiral read all this morning and gave me that "I told you they pulled out" look! My reply to her was, and if I listened and tore the headliner, you'd have been pi$$ed!!!!

Ugh!

Again thanks to all that gave input. This forum is a valuable wealth of knowledge and sure is a great resource.
 
tawcat said:
As much pulling and turning and yanking and twisting and.......... I did on that fixture one would think it would have shown some little indication of moving!!!!!

I'll look at it the next time I'm at the boat, but I am not fretting any longer. The Admiral read all this morning and gave me that "I told you they pulled out" look! My reply to her was, and if I listened and tore the headliner, you'd have been pi$$ed!!!!

Ugh!

Again thanks to all that gave input. This forum is a valuable wealth of knowledge and sure is a great resource.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I've been in those situations, myself. Hopefully it'll just pull down for you, but, yeah, sometimes it's just not worth it.

One last little bit: Because that fixture can get warm (and over the years), sometimes the vinyl tends to adhere itself to the edge of the fixture - where they touch. Slide a credit card in there to release it. You might have to "jab" the card at the spot where the vinyl touches the fixture. Don't "punch" - just "jab" :smt001 Once you get it in, slide it around the fixture (360*) to release the "grip" that the vinyl has on the fixture and ta-da! You should be good to go from there. Take your time - it might be sticking pretty good - but it will release.

Either way, good luck!:grin:
 
Good deal! I have something similar in my anchor light.
 
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