"chunkyoldcortina" wrote in message
...
John wrote:
Mate just chipped his new kitchen floor when a lamp fell out after he
failed to twist it in far enough - I had to remove some glass 'shades' to
remove a lamp last week. What is the best way of getting a good grasp of
them to remove or fit them when they are recessed. I have some (Ikea)
suckers which are fine with the 12 volt lamps but not much good for a
twist.

Any tips for us?

I ended up taking the fittings out of the recess and twisting them by
their base.

If the ones you have are made by Osram, they will have an all-glass
construction (no ceramic base) and be a complete pig to get out unless you
remove the fitting. What is likely to happen is that as you push them and
attempt to twist, even using a suction cup or similar, the front facing
piece of glass will detatch from the rest of the lamp, leaving sharp edges
onto which you are already pushing hard with your fingers. Cue much blood
and cursing.....

This happened (well not the blood as I had got wise to it after the first
couple and removed the fitting if I couldn't remove them easily otherwise)
with 50% of the 28 lamps that I removed in our new house to replace with
CFL GU10s....

OP here - I found that GE lamps have 6 or 8 small ribs which give you a
fighting chance to engage your finger nails to give it a twist.