Repairing a Refrigerator Light Bulb

If your light doesn't work in your refrigerator that can be a big inconvenience. Many times this problem ends up being an easy appliance repair. Sometimes the bulb is bad and needs to be replaced, but if you have already tried that and the bulb still won't illuminate, what do you do? Well believe it or not, sometimes the bulb simply needs to be tightened.

If you have the old style (incandescent type bulbs) sometimes over time, they will loosen and not illuminate. This happens because of the temperature changes in the bulb and the socket, the bulb is  screwed in to. See when the bulb is on, of course it heats up, and when things heat up they expand. Then when the bulb is off, it cools in the refrigerator and contracts. This expansion and contraction of the bulb and the socket can cause the bulb to loosen. Sometimes all you need to do is tighten the bulb.

But this can prove to be harder than it may seem sometimes. All that expansion and contraction in the bulb and socket tends shrink the socket a little. So tightening the bulb is a little harder, but it can be done in most cases. Be careful though, if the socket is too tight, the bulb could break in your hand when you try to tighten it. Of course that can cause two problems; first you might cut your hand on the glass bulb when it breaks, and or shock your self with the filament in the bulb. So, I would highly recommend unplugging the refrigerator before you try to tighten the bulb, especially if the bulb seems really hard to turn.

I will tell you a little trick I thought of (after doing what I just cautioned you about) though; if you press the light switch button in before trying to turn the bulb, it will temporarily stop the electricity from flowing to the bulb. So at least you wouldn't get shocked! Just remember that when you let go of the light switch, the electricity will once again be live at the bulb and socket, thus allowing you to get shocked! 

*Again always be careful when working with electricity. It is always best to unplug appliances before attempting to repair them!

*If you need a professional appliance repair, check out our web-site at www.TrinityApplianceService.com

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