How do I replace the light bulb in these under-cabinet lights?

February 28, 2016 10:13 PM

How do I reach the light bulb in these under-cabinet light fixtures? Picture inside.

I am trying to figure out how to open these lights (of which there are many in my kitchen) to replace the light bulbs.

I feel like this is some kind of snap mechanism, but I'm not sure whether it's the outer ring or just the inner part that should snap. Nothing seems to give way easily.

(This is in a rental apartment -- no other labels than the instructions featured in the picture, and no instruction manual available.)

posted by yonglin to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

I have similar lights in my stove hood and the outer ring of mine unscrews. I found this out after breaking a bulb trying to get it out the "logical" way.
posted by cecic at 10:19 PM on February 28, 2016

Yeah, try rotating it. We have something similar and I think the whole thing just unscrewed.
posted by hydra77 at 10:50 PM on February 28, 2016

Try applying a section of tape across the width folded into a tab type shape so your hand is able to pinch the tape and use it as a turning force point. Once the rotation is started it should be fine, reverse to insert a working bulb.
posted by Freedomboy at 11:28 PM on February 28, 2016

Those look similar to mine, which don't quite unscrew. They twist about 1/4 turn to align tabs (?) and then drop open.
posted by instamatic at 11:35 PM on February 28, 2016

What you are looking at is the bulb cover, not the bulb itself (which is one of these). By the looks of it, you need to just pop the cover off the get at the bulb underneath (those little metal tabs are like springs holding the lens in place). Have you tried gentle prying with a flathead screwdriver?

This is not the GU10 bulb which posters above are talking about.
posted by ssg at 11:47 PM on February 28, 2016

You're in a rental. Can you get the landlord/caretaker to clue you in? I'm sure they don't want you to break it trying to put a new bulb in.
posted by Marky at 11:50 PM on February 28, 2016

My stove's IKEA exhaust fan has similar lights, with slots around the perimeter that conceal springy tabs. To remove the cover, one must insert a flathead screwdriver (or any slim, flat, narrow tool, like a nail file) into any one of the slots. It looks like there are four spots on your light fixture that invite poking. Give that a shot, and be prepared to catch the glass lens if it drops unexpectedly.
posted by mumkin at 6:22 PM on February 29, 2016