prescolite 10" recessed cans from 1970 something

[wyreman]

hey,
aside from socket extenders, any retrofit ideas about how to update and get more usable light out of these old cans that are perfectly serviceable? The holes are 10" in diameter.

What we are looking for is new trim or adapter that will let us get more usable light from existing.
The only issue we have with the existing is that the lens is recessed about 4" too far in and we have to use a 10^ spot to get light on the tables below and that is too bright. We can just use three of these extensions but that seems
Longer bracket or
screw in type adapter that allow use of brighter lamp or
4" deeper reflective trim or any other ideas you might have.
thanks!

 

[marti smith]

Prescolite has a really nice website (www.prescolite.com) on which they continue the 8" and 10" recessed fixtures; you may be able to find something to help you out with there.

 

[wyreman]

low hanging fruit

low hanging fruit

thanx marti,
i got thru to a prescolite rep yesterday and he is researching it for me.
i didn't see any 10" cans on the website, only 8"

their catalog doesn't go back more than 1978.

just wondering if there were any ideas like surface mountin a 2x4 wrap over the opening and powering it up with a socket adapter or, more especially, techniques i might never have thought of!

 

[BILLY101]

This is good application for LED lighting.
A PAR 38, 90 watt halogen equal uses 16 watts. They are available in 25* reflector flood, 2700K, 800-900 lumens, 50,000 hr life and dimmable.
Very pricey but worth a look.
Check out www.1000bulbs.com to get an overview of the various products.
For the trim I would check out the custom shops that do the high end fixtures for hotels etc. Or a custom copper fab shop. Your local lighting rep. should be able to advise you. And of course the internet shows many custom shops.

BILLY

 

[esobocinski]

A furniture store I know of had a section renovated in the early '70s that had a ton of these 10" recessed in a wood slat ceiling that just happened to look again-stylish around year 2000 when they renovated again. They managed to find some 8" circular fluorescent fixtures that fit almost perfectly inside the old fixtures such that they just replaced the old socket with an octagon box and mounted the new fixture to that. The fixtures weren't rated as recessed, so they left the glass off. Someone got the idea to attach a metal puck to the center mounting screw to make it a ring light. It's a little dated now but was a wonderful adaptation for the time. I'm told the inspector was happy. Maybe that gives you some artistic ideas. Unfortunately, I can't find any of the product that some companies made in the '90s to update those 10" and 12" square lights with the heavy class that were designed to fit into fiber tile grids. Some of those kits would work just as well in a round fixture.