On 2 Sep 2009 20:45:45 GMT, ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote:

In article , (mm) writes:

| I think I can unscrew the screws with a pliers
| from the inside, tie a string to the fixture, cut the romex, lower the
| fixture to the ground. (It's broken but the bulbs are good.) Drill

Actually, everything is good except the circuit in the sensor (that
turns the light off at dawn), and for the previous fixture, that is
good but the light socket is burned. So I can combine the two to make
one.
| new holes at the base of the wall (just one layer of T1), lower a
| string, put machine screws through the new fixture and a nut so the
| screws don't come out, tie a nylon string to the fixture and lift the
| fixture to the attic, maniuplate the wires through the big hole and
| the screws into the two pre-drilled screw holes (this is the tricky
| part) than put on washers and nuts. And I think I could do a box at
| this time, but not if the hole is as big as the box.

How about this? Fully attach the fixture to a box in advance, sealing
the unused openings with plugs and bringing a UF cable out the back with
a weather resistant clamp. Put the above machine screws through the
mounting tabs on the box. Lower the string through the central hole
(which you have made large enough to accommodate the clamp on the back of
the box) and attach it to the UF cable. Lift and position the assembly
as above. Add a splice box in the attic to connect the feed cable to
your new piece of UF.

This is very good. I may do just this. Thanks. Except instead of
nuts on the screws that I suggested to hold them in place, I may put
a splinter or a split kitchen match in the hole before I shove the
screw in. That will hold the screw for a while, and I'll be providing
my own screws so if I lose one, I'll have more. And it will tighten
down better.

Or maybe a speed nut, one of those pieces of spring steel with a hole
in them that are less than a milliter thick, not counting their curve.
I save them when I take apart something that uses them.

I can screw the interior box right behind the outside box. BTW, I
think the first fixture once fell over, down, because it was only
screwed into T1-11. And the first electrician actually went up in my
attic to run the romex to my ceiling fixture, but installed no inside,
or outside, box.

Now I'm so enthusiastic I want to do this tommorrow, but first I have
to make a path to the attic hatch!

If you really want the fixture flush you are going to have to make a
much bigger hole and you can pull the whole box in. People use non-
weather-resistant boxes in such installations but I wouldn't.

Dan Lanciani
ddl@danlan.*com