That certainly woke ME up!

Draco

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So, extra sleepy this morning at 4 am.. about to get ready for work, yawning and scratching my butt.. 

I flip the switch to turn on my ceiling light.. and what does it do? it explodes! It popped and cracked light a firework!! I quickly snapped the switch off and grab my fire extinquisher (you DO have one in your home, right?)

Luckily, I didn't need to use it because the popping and light show stopped when I turned the switch off. I took down the light fixture.. it looks like its the fixture itself and not the wiring. My parents gave this to me when they took it down in their home.. Man the smoke stinks too

I will have to call maintenance when I get to my other job and see if they can come at lunch to replace the old, ugly 60's fixture that was original with the apartment.

But holy smokes! I am now wide awake and shaking!! Thank goodness I put my hearing aid in this morning to hear it!
 

jcat

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That's scary! Stuff like that can happen so fast. It's fortunate it stopped when you flicked the switch again.
 

mservant

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I hope you're starting to calm a bit. My heart's racing. Thank goodness it is only the fitting and your home is safe.  

Happened to me once a few years back!  Came in one evening and went to turn on my kitchen light and CRACK!  Thought I was going to die! Took me ages to calm down and decide what to do.  A friend who's an electrical engineer came round for a look and in seconds frowned and said he wouldn't touch it. 
 Sadly it was my wiring.... no one could believe my apartment hadn't burst in to flames years before the light switch blew!
 
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Draco

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thanks all :) I had to leave my PT job early to check to make sure my apartment was still standing, as I was worried! Thankfully there wasn't much smoke to affect the cats.

I called my apartment manager. she's getting someone to come in first thing in the morning to check it out. In the mean time, I will shop for a new fixture.. I really do NOT want to put that ugly old 60's fixture back up! LOL
 

mservant

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Don't you dare put it back up!!!  We'll all start worrying if you don't post regularly now until we know it's all safe!
 
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Draco

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should clarify..

the 60s fixture was original and came with the apartment (it looks like 60s style, but I think it was made in the 80s or early 90s)

my parents gave me the fixture that exploded. whoops. I think the guy who installed it for me messed up the wiring.
 
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kookycats

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Wow - that must have been terrifying. Just glad that you're ok. I guess we should all learn that we should make sure to use a licensed electrician when doing any wiring or installation.
 

betsygee

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Wow, that would definitely wake a person up!  I don't blame you for coming home early to check on it.  

Good reminder about the fire extinguisher, too.  We learned that lesson after a truck caught fire in our driveway.  It had a spare fuel tank and if we hadn't had a fire extinguisher in the house to put it out, it could have meant real trouble.  Now we keep small ones in the vehicles, too.
 
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