How to lower the position of a floodlight? Is there an adapter?

September 22, 2015 3:44 PM

The house I have has a motion detection floodlight installed (http://amzn.to/1KyAd5N). Unfortunately, the original installation was a bit too high, so most of this floodlight is shadowed by the roof eave. I would like to lower it by about 6 inches. I don't want to change the original circular mount that's in the wall. Is there such a thing as an adapter/pipe that I can install connect to the original circular mount that I can then reattach the floodlight too? (Kind of like a periscope) I'd welcome other solutions - but I'm not very handy.
posted by bluelava to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Can you perhaps provide a photo of the current installation? Just on a generic basis, I can't imagine any kind of way to mount it lower from the original electrical box that wouldn't be way more work and expense than just moving the box down. Can you share why that isn't an option?
posted by ssg at 4:07 PM on September 22, 2015

This page has a number of lamp socket extenders. I'm not sure if any of them are for exterior use.
posted by H21 at 6:13 PM on September 22, 2015

The circular mount you describe; is it a round electrical box like this? If so it would be trivially easy for you (or a qualified electrician if you prefer, but this task is totally within the reach of a DIYer) to add a six-inch piece of conduit connected to a second box on which you could connect your fixture.
posted by contraption at 6:48 PM on September 22, 2015

Get one of these, or better yet TWO, to make your periscope. Done and done.
posted by intermod at 8:38 PM on September 22, 2015

Be aware that H21's and intermod's extensions aren't in most cases listed for damp or wet locations depending on what your set up is.

contraption has the easiest DIY option. You'll need

1. two RAB boxes (one open and one with blank cover);
2. a rigid nipple to fit your boxes (1/2" or 3/4") of sufficient length to get your fixture where you want it;
3. enough wire to extend your circuit down to the second box (say three feet of 14/2 loomex);
4. some wire marrettes to make your splice in the top box;
5. and a chase nipple to fit in the back of the top box to protect the wire.

Once you have all your material together:

1. Turn off the power to the light at the breaker panel.
2. Take your fixture off the wall and disconnect the wires. There should only be 3 wires in the box; a black, a red and a green or bare (or possibly two if you have no bond wire).
3. Centre the fixture mount on what will become the top RAB box and mark the location of the two mounting holes on the back of the inside of the box (I use an awl for this purpose) being aware that you want one of the threaded holes in the RAB pointing straight down. You might find the the hole location is already marked in the back of the box.
4. Drill the marked holes with a metal bit large enough so the holes will pass your mounting screws.
5. Screw the chase nipple into the back of the box you drilled the holes into.
6. Screw the rigid nipple into the side hole of the top Rab box that is pointing down and then screw one of the side holes of the second RAB box onto the nipple. Get the boxes good and snug (you may need to use pliers to get everything aligned) and the fronts aligned flat with each other.
7. Use the plugs that come with the RAB boxes to plug the remaining hubs.
8. Make sure that the bond (green/bare) wire is connected to the existing house box.
9. Feed the wires thru the centre hole of one of the RAB box gaskets and then thru the chase nipple in the top RAB box.
10. Mount the RAB-Nipple-RAB assembly on the existing house box using the mounting screws thru the holes you drilled in the box. Depending on the length of the extension nipple you may want to also use the mounting ears on the bottom RAB box to secure the box box to your house in a manner appropriate to your siding.
11. If your bond wire is bare wrap it around the bond screw (the green one in the screw package) in the top box. If it is green you will need to add a pig tail to your bond extension connection to connect the bond to the top box.
12. Extend the wires from your top box to the bottom box with the marrattes. Make sure to leave 6" of spare length protruding in both the top and bottom box. Coil the spare length of conductor inside the top box.
13. Using the second RAB gasket mount the blank cover on the top box using the brass screws.
14. Make your wire connections to the light fixture making sure to feed the wires thru the centre hole in the fixture gasket first.
15. Install the fixture on the bottom RAB box.
16. Turn the breaker back on and verify operation.

If you encounter aluminum wire call an electrician.

This is going to look not great with that rectangular fixture. An electrician could probably mount a pancake box lower down the wall by fishing a cable from the existing box (and then covering the existing box with a blank cover) for not much money.
posted by Mitheral at 10:22 PM on September 22, 2015