Replacing recessed cans difficulty?

[bazookaman]

We have two recessed lights in our kitchen. One of them is out. Sometimes it comes back on. Sometimes not. The other one works fine. Both are on the same switch. My first thought was the light bulb. But that didn't fix it. You can tap it with a broom handle and it comes back on for a little, then goes out again. So i thought perhaps a loose wire. I took out the light and checked the connections and everything seemed tight. So now I'm thinking I just need to replace the whole thing. They are original to the house so around 16 years old.

[Fritz]

as long as there is enough service loop that you can grab the cable below the ceiling line a couple inches, easy peasy. Power off, of course.
You will prolly be greatly disappointed in the quality of the wiring of a new can, but so it goes.
The thermal protects in them fail. Change both, if I were you.

[bazookaman]

Yes. I planned on doing both.

[SteveO]

Great idea for the age of the cans you have and easy peasy job - this coming from someone who is fairly non-mechanical. Just get cans that are the same size if possible; otherwise you may be looking at extra work/expense. LEDs recommended for low heat and low energy usage.

I replaced my 12-year-old halogen cans last year...they were nearly melted! They had an auto shut off when they got too hot, but I wonder how effective it was...I'm damn lucky my house didn't burn down.

[davester]

It depends on the type of can and the access.

If you have attic access above the kitchen then there's no problem no matter what type of can.

If you don't have attic access then you need to hope that you have a retrofit can which is designed for installation through the hole. Those look like this:

If you have a new construction can then you're going to have problems because to replace it would require ripping the ceiling sheetrock apart. Those look like this:

There's really nothing much to go wrong with a recessed light other than loose wire connections, so I don't think replacing the fixture is the thing to do. If you can access the connection box that is part of the fixture check that the wire nuts are on properly. If they are good then it's likely the bulb holder which should be replaceable without tearing the entire fixture out.

[OWC Jamie]

If the connections are tight and the bulb is good then check the center tab in the E26 socket (light bulb socket ). Sometimes that center tab isn't very springy, needs to be pulled back out and sometimes it is also carboned up from a loose connection making the poor connection worse. Tabbed Center connect should be hot, so power off unless you have tools for working on 110AC live.

[bazookaman]

No attic access unfortunately. I'll take it apart and see what I can find out this weekend.