For anyone looking to do this in 2020, if you can get the old pot out, there is no need to install an "old work" pot. There are 6 inch LEDs that install without a pot super easily. I don't know if this was the case in 2015.
Thanks for this. I've been pondering doing this project in my kitchen for a while, but the prospect of getting the old ballasts out was pretty daunting. This is super helpful.
Really nice video. Like a lot of other people I was under the impression it couldn't be done without cutting out a chunk of my ceiling (six times). I did three of my lights in about 90 minutes, so simple once you know what to do. Thanks!
holy shit. I've been looking for this exact tutorial for a long time, everyone has just regular installs. I have these exact lights in my bathrooms and kitchen and they SUCK. thanks for posting this, i can finally get these taken out and replaced! thumbs up.
Thanks for this video i was looking for a video like this, to teach me how to take off that Recessed Can Housing on my house to make it Ultra-Thin LED Recessed, my next weekend project 👌🏼🙏🏼
This is exactly the kind of how to video I was looking for -- thank you SO MUCH! You did a fantastic job and loved the angle from up in the ceiling too.
Excellent video. 7 out of 10 is easy for me, but I've never tackled this exact task before. After watching this video, I just removed a standard incandescent Halo light, and the process was pretty much the same. Here's an odd-sounding improvement to the process. My tin snips were buried in my plumbing/heating toolbox which was under a bunch of other stuff. I looked around the garage, and came-up with the idea of trying a lopping shear. It worked perfectly and made those two cuts like a hot knife going through butter.
I followed this these instructions for 4 of my CFL kitchen lights stopped working and it worked perfectly. I did a bypass for the other 4 which was pretty simple. I recommend picking up a pack of Push-In Wire Connector if you do the bypass. The 7 difficulty rating is accurate when it came down to removing the old frame. It was not as easy as it looks in the video and edges of the sheet metal that you cut will be very sharp which lead to a few cuts on my hands. Great home upgrade project!
Thanks for the video how to take the part out. I literally in an urgent need to do that since just got water pipe leak and there is water dripping down from the ceiling light.
Great Video, I've got two of these beauties and was not sure what I was going to do with them. Easy to follow, great footage from inside ceiling, it really explains everything. Thanks again.
Great video - thinking I might cut the can and remove it first to have easier access to the wires. My ceiling is very high and I have 15 of this to replace.
Thank you for the video. I was in the exact same situation except my lights are 4”. I was trying to figure out how to remove the old can and found your video. Thanks again!
Great video with all the explanation that I needed. I can't for the life of me understand why CFL along with their ballasts were ever a thing. Surely an edison fitting with a fluorescent bulb would have been an easier, cheaper, futureproof solution for builders. Which I guess begs the question, why not choose a housing that comes with a standard edison fitting instead of an LED one? That way you can use the edison adapter (that you threw away in the video) for the retrofit kit, or a regular LED or incandescent bulb.
California title 24 Requires that the main lighting in the kitchen be permanently energy efficient. Conversion of the fixture to accept an edison bulb would not be compliant. This would only create an issue when the property was sold or other work requiring a permit was done
I hooked up a new LED light in circuit with one of those old boxes. I did not know the box was there. Caused some kind of condition where my voltage was registering almost 140v at the outlets and appeared to fry one of my UPS units.
Make sure you are using a multimeter with fresh batteries and that it is truly accurate. Stupid me, I was using a harbor freight one years ago and got the same voltage, but it was wrong, just a crappy multimeter. Turning off the switch should kill power to the box and if the condition is there it should go away with the switch off. That being said, sometimes it’s better to call a pro when all else fails, be safe.
Thank you so much for this video. I have one question. How do you separate that junction box from the rest of the can frame? Isn't it attached to the strap that goes from ceiling joist to ceiling joist?
*Thank you* for choosing a sensible camera placement for this video! Most of the other folks attempting to document this did it from below the hole where their bodies were blocking most of the action. I mean, no-duh, right?
The clips on your NEW can: Do you know how to REMOVE (undo?) those? I just installed one, and the electrical doesn't work. I don't want to go into the attic to troubleshoot, but I can't get those clips to 'let go'!! TIA
Great video. When you pushed up ( starting at 9:10) on the ring with the long screw driver i assume it was "brecking away" from the "bar hangers / straps" that were nailed to the joists. That is the part that makes me nervous because i fear that if i tried that it might not breck away from the bar hangers. Then i have a heck of a time trying to get it out. Thanks .... my.Trivia... my kitchen ceiling inside view inside you did with the sony camera looks exactly the same construction and i happy they did not insulate it. Those four prong lites i have as you did with six ceiling cans... what a huge hassle those ballast fired CFL are.
+Jcee's Corner If you have a good pair of tin snips you cut up the can pretty good without having to break the can out the way I did. You can also hack the original box and cut out the ballast, but that's a bit sloppy to me. The kitchen is on the first floor of my two story house, so that's why there is no insulation. There is no easy was to go about this, but plenty of ways to try. Just stick to one can and find the best way to proceed is my best advice. Also, wear thick gloves, otherwise you may end up with a nasty cut.
Hey Michael, does this break away action work on every brand? I had real trouble doing that on mine. Ended up spending hours cutting out the box, leaving a bunch of sharp scraps of metal in the ceiling.
I don't want to retrofit using the Costco kit, but simply change the canister to accept A19 type LED bulbs. I have open-ended canisters throughout my kitchen and dining room, using both CFL and A19 receptacles. What would you recommend? BTW, great and helpful video and I have no electrical experience.
Kevin Swartz It's like these, www.lowes.com/pd_525914-337-H750RICAT_0__?k_clickID=5262f5eb-7b7e-4748-4b0a-000065dade3e&store_code=2714&productId=50149870&selectedLocalStoreBeanArray=%5Bcom.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%405dec5dec%5D&storeNumber=2714&kpid=50149870&kpid=50149870&cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-FashionFixtures-_-RecessedLighting-_-50149870%3AHalo&CAWELAID=&CAWELAID=320011480001791010 They have them at Home Depot and they allow you to connect the LED kit directly with no bulb base adapter. These are the light, they are cheaper at Costco, www.feit.com/led-lamps/performance/dimmable/LED_Retrofit
My situation is that I will be installing recessed lights in my living room where none existed before, so the electrical will be more complex due to having to run Romex from where the chandelier/track light used to be. I will be removing sections of the ceiling to handle that, and I am comfortable with that process. From preliminary inspections inside the ceiling, I have determined that there is rolled fiberglass insulation there (the room above is actually an outdoor roof-top deck), and so I know that that introduces a requirement to have IC rated cans. Do you remember if the cans/lights you purchased from Costco have an IC rating?
If I'm not too late, there's no reason to remove a big section of drywall. You need what's called a flex bit. Search here on youtube to see how easy they make the job of running wiring for new cans.
This is an old video…can lights are totally out….I was hoping to get info on how to get the old cans out of my attic and install the new waffle lights which is pretty easy…I guess I just have to remove the old can lights the good old fashion way ….by force…
Thanks for the video! I’m looking at doing this on my kitchen and this really helped. What is that little camera you were holding that we could see in the "other angle" shot at the very end?
Yes, because it would have damaged the drywall to try to remove them and they were not in the way of the new fixture. Depending on the style you may have to remove them in some cases.
Thank you very much. Makes a lot of sense. I didn't realize how simple and straightforward the installations in the ceiling area. In my specific setup, the clips cannot hold the can in place. I decided to put my own bracket: A single 1/2 x 4 x 24 pine board that is anchored on the joist via pocket holes (i've preinstalled the 2 "anchor" screws on each side before putting the board inside). Then I used 3 small screws (1/4") to attach the can to the board using the holes already on the side of the can.. As long as the can is held in place by just one bracket, it should be fine.
"These things last maybe 2 or 3 years" lol try 2 or 3 months. I hate the bloody things and I can't for the life of me think why would the install these light fittings. The entire country uses B22 for domestic
I ran into this issue this week as a handyman and now I feel good about doing this project for my customer.
You've just made my patio ceiling fan replacement project much easier. Great video and excellent instructions. Thank you very much.
For anyone looking to do this in 2020, if you can get the old pot out, there is no need to install an "old work" pot. There are 6 inch LEDs that install without a pot super easily. I don't know if this was the case in 2015.
Thanks, James. Your tip saved me a little complexity and made for a simple 1 to 1 replacement.
Yep, I needed to know how to break out that old box and the rails.
A large screwdriver and tin snips is really helpful, thanks for the tip..!
Thanks for this. I've been pondering doing this project in my kitchen for a while, but the prospect of getting the old ballasts out was pretty daunting. This is super helpful.
Really nice video. Like a lot of other people I was under the impression it couldn't be done without cutting out a chunk of my ceiling (six times). I did three of my lights in about 90 minutes, so simple once you know what to do. Thanks!
You just saved me a lot of demolition work with this video 😁
holy shit. I've been looking for this exact tutorial for a long time, everyone has just regular installs. I have these exact lights in my bathrooms and kitchen and they SUCK. thanks for posting this, i can finally get these taken out and replaced! thumbs up.
Thanks for this video i was looking for a video like this, to teach me how to take off that Recessed Can Housing on my house to make it Ultra-Thin LED Recessed, my next weekend project 👌🏼🙏🏼
Perfect, same lights I have, replacing them this weekend. Much appreciated.
This is exactly the kind of how to video I was looking for -- thank you SO MUCH! You did a fantastic job and loved the angle from up in the ceiling too.
Great video. Just changed my first one. I have 18 more to go. Saving a great deal of money. Thank you once again!!!
Excellent video. 7 out of 10 is easy for me, but I've never tackled this exact task before. After watching this video, I just removed a standard incandescent Halo light, and the process was pretty much the same. Here's an odd-sounding improvement to the process. My tin snips were buried in my plumbing/heating toolbox which was under a bunch of other stuff. I looked around the garage, and came-up with the idea of trying a lopping shear. It worked perfectly and made those two cuts like a hot knife going through butter.
I followed this these instructions for 4 of my CFL kitchen lights stopped working and it worked perfectly. I did a bypass for the other 4 which was pretty simple. I recommend picking up a pack of Push-In Wire Connector if you do the bypass. The 7 difficulty rating is accurate when it came down to removing the old frame. It was not as easy as it looks in the video and edges of the sheet metal that you cut will be very sharp which lead to a few cuts on my hands. Great home upgrade project!
I'm happy it worked and I'll be sure to point out the sharpness issue if it occurs on the next project.
Thanks bro! Tin snips were a great idea to cut the old frame out!
Thanks for the video how to take the part out. I literally in an urgent need to do that since just got water pipe leak and there is water dripping down from the ceiling light.
Thank you very much for making this video. This is exactly what I need to do and it is very helpful knowing what’s ahead of me before I begin.
Thanks for the video, pretty well done with couple of cameras. I was about to call the electrician. Replaced all the 6 kitchen lights myself
Great video! I did exactly what you said and was able to replace 3 lights this evening. Thank you for taking the time to record this video.
Great Video, I've got two of these beauties and was not sure what I was going to do with them. Easy to follow, great footage from inside ceiling, it really explains everything. Thanks again.
Great video, Michael! You've demystified the whole process for me.
Great video - thinking I might cut the can and remove it first to have easier access to the wires. My ceiling is very high and I have 15 of this to replace.
Perfect, the video I needed. Thank you so much for this.
Thank you for the video. I was in the exact same situation except my lights are 4”. I was trying to figure out how to
remove the old can and found your video. Thanks again!
thank you. you saved my life. I couldn't figure out how to remove the fixture. gonna try it now.
Good luck and take your time.
Very nice illustration. Thanks for posting.
This video is just i needed! 👍
SoCal? Heck yeah. Thank you! I came across these a few weeks ago. Looked like a hassle
Time to find my snips .
Great video. You rock!
Great video with all the explanation that I needed. I can't for the life of me understand why CFL along with their ballasts were ever a thing. Surely an edison fitting with a fluorescent bulb would have been an easier, cheaper, futureproof solution for builders.
Which I guess begs the question, why not choose a housing that comes with a standard edison fitting instead of an LED one? That way you can use the edison adapter (that you threw away in the video) for the retrofit kit, or a regular LED or incandescent bulb.
California title 24 Requires that the main lighting in the kitchen be permanently energy efficient. Conversion of the fixture to accept an edison bulb would not be compliant. This would only create an issue when the property was sold or other work requiring a permit was done
I hooked up a new LED light in circuit with one of those old boxes. I did not know the box was there. Caused some kind of condition where my voltage was registering almost 140v at the outlets and appeared to fry one of my UPS units.
Make sure you are using a multimeter with fresh batteries and that it is truly accurate. Stupid me, I was using a harbor freight one years ago and got the same voltage, but it was wrong, just a crappy multimeter.
Turning off the switch should kill power to the box and if the condition is there it should go away with the switch off. That being said, sometimes it’s better to call a pro when all else fails, be safe.
Thank you so much for this video. I have one question. How do you separate that junction box from the rest of the can frame? Isn't it attached to the strap that goes from ceiling joist to ceiling joist?
At about 6:35 you can see he cuts the metal cable sleeve that connects the junction box and can.
*Thank you* for choosing a sensible camera placement for this video! Most of the other folks attempting to document this did it from below the hole where their bodies were blocking most of the action. I mean, no-duh, right?
The clips on your NEW can: Do you know how to REMOVE (undo?) those? I just installed one, and the electrical doesn't work. I don't want to go into the attic to troubleshoot, but I can't get those clips to 'let go'!! TIA
Love it! .... thanks for sharing.
Great video. When you pushed up ( starting at 9:10) on the ring with the long screw driver i assume it was "brecking away" from the "bar hangers / straps" that were nailed to the joists. That is the part that makes me nervous because i fear that if i tried that it might not breck away from the bar hangers. Then i have a heck of a time trying to get it out. Thanks .... my.Trivia... my kitchen ceiling inside view inside you did with the sony camera looks exactly the same construction and i happy they did not insulate it. Those four prong lites i have as you did with six ceiling cans... what a huge hassle those ballast fired CFL are.
+Jcee's Corner If you have a good pair of tin snips you cut up the can pretty good without having to break the can out the way I did. You can also hack the original box and cut out the ballast, but that's a bit sloppy to me. The kitchen is on the first floor of my two story house, so that's why there is no insulation. There is no easy was to go about this, but plenty of ways to try. Just stick to one can and find the best way to proceed is my best advice. Also, wear thick gloves, otherwise you may end up with a nasty cut.
Hey Michael, does this break away action work on every brand? I had real trouble doing that on mine. Ended up spending hours cutting out the box, leaving a bunch of sharp scraps of metal in the ceiling.
I looked at Costco, what is the brand name of these lights
I don't want to retrofit using the Costco kit, but simply change the canister to accept A19 type LED bulbs. I have open-ended canisters throughout my kitchen and dining room, using both CFL and A19 receptacles. What would you recommend? BTW, great and helpful video and I have no electrical experience.
+Tim Robinson what type of bulb is currently in the can?
What kind of watch are you wearing on your wrist?
Dumb question. What is that thing @ 3:09 called again? Do you happen to have links to a product page for what you used? Thanks!
Kevin Swartz It's like these,
www.lowes.com/pd_525914-337-H750RICAT_0__?k_clickID=5262f5eb-7b7e-4748-4b0a-000065dade3e&store_code=2714&productId=50149870&selectedLocalStoreBeanArray=%5Bcom.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%405dec5dec%5D&storeNumber=2714&kpid=50149870&kpid=50149870&cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-FashionFixtures-_-RecessedLighting-_-50149870%3AHalo&CAWELAID=&CAWELAID=320011480001791010
They have them at Home Depot and they allow you to connect the LED kit directly with no bulb base adapter.
These are the light, they are cheaper at Costco,
www.feit.com/led-lamps/performance/dimmable/LED_Retrofit
My situation is that I will be installing recessed lights in my living room where none existed before, so the electrical will be more complex due to having to run Romex from where the chandelier/track light used to be. I will be removing sections of the ceiling to handle that, and I am comfortable with that process. From preliminary inspections inside the ceiling, I have determined that there is rolled fiberglass insulation there (the room above is actually an outdoor roof-top deck), and so I know that that introduces a requirement to have IC rated cans. Do you remember if the cans/lights you purchased from Costco have an IC rating?
If I'm not too late, there's no reason to remove a big section of drywall. You need what's called a flex bit. Search here on youtube to see how easy they make the job of running wiring for new cans.
I think the old box can be used and only change the line in it !
They can, but it does increase your chances of a short.
Thank you
This is an old video…can lights are totally out….I was hoping to get info on how to get the old cans out of my attic and install the new waffle lights which is pretty easy…I guess I just have to remove the old can lights the good old fashion way ….by force…
Thanks for the video! I’m looking at doing this on my kitchen and this really helped. What is that little camera you were holding that we could see in the "other angle" shot at the very end?
+Ken Brucker Sony Action Camera
Ken Brucker
Nice👏😊
You can actually just buy a new construction rough in and swap out the can. No need to cut out the frame assy.
Nice.
hi. were the brackets left in the ceiling?
Yes, because it would have damaged the drywall to try to remove them and they were not in the way of the new fixture. Depending on the style you may have to remove them in some cases.
Thank you very much. Makes a lot of sense. I didn't realize how simple and straightforward the installations in the ceiling area. In my specific setup, the clips cannot hold the can in place. I decided to put my own bracket: A single 1/2 x 4 x 24 pine board that is anchored on the joist via pocket holes (i've preinstalled the 2 "anchor" screws on each side before putting the board inside). Then I used 3 small screws (1/4") to attach the can to the board using the holes already on the side of the can.. As long as the can is held in place by just one bracket, it should be fine.
Seams like a lot work I have 30!!!
You can just rig your current boxes to save time. I'm just outlining a complete swap, but you can just rip out the ballast and rewire it.
How long would this take to change out 6 lights?
Brendan Collins 30mins to an hour per light depending on your skill level and whether there any surprises hiding in your ceiling.
Thanks so much Michael, are you an electrician? how many of these have you done? :D
I don't do electrical work as profession but, I've done close to 100 of them.
Oh very awesome! that is a lot of experience.
Yeah it is kind of funny, my real job is working on movies.
Cool bracelet lol
Hi are you an electrician?
"These things last maybe 2 or 3 years" lol try 2 or 3 months. I hate the bloody things and I can't for the life of me think why would the install these light fittings. The entire country uses B22 for domestic
only $13, that's not gonna last long...
It's an LED bulb... it'll last ridiculously long
I have the same ones. 4-5 years old I believe and going strong.