Ceiling – How to open this flush ceiling light to change the bulb

ceilinglight-fixture

I am trying to open this flush ceiling light fixture to change a burned out bulb, but I can't figure out how to open it for the life of me.

It looks like this:

Picture of light fixture from below
Picture of light fixture from the side

I am not sure what the brand or model of the light fixture is, but I was able to find a similar light fixture on this website (http://www.galaxy-lighting.com/item.aspx?item=24826), but there are only minimal installation instructions!

So far, I have tried unscrewing the screws around the base and then twisting counter-clockwise, pulling straight down, and wiggling it around. I tried using (what I thought was) some considerable force in all these actions, but it won't expose the light bulbs inside. At this point, I'm afraid of breaking it if I use too much strength.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of ceiling light fixture?

Update: I was able to take off the cover. It required a counter-clockwise twist after removing the screws. I had tried that, but it required a lot more force than I was comfortable using. It had guides along the glass cover to tighten the glass piece to the metal base, kind of like a lid on a jar. I think that after 6 years or so, it must have settled tightly into place, and when I was able to finally get it to twist, I actually ended up breaking the glass cover because it jerked open. I wasn't wearing gloves, but thankfully I didn't cut myself.

While I was at it, I changed the other ceiling light in my hallway and was able to take it off without too much trouble after "wiggling" the cover for a little bit before twisting it off. It also jerked out of place, but it didn't break. I took a picture of the cover, in case it helps someone else in the future.

Picture of the ceiling light cover

Best Answer

The installation instructions seem pretty clear. You should remove the three screws around the perimeter and then you may have to twist the shade portion to pull it down. The bump visible next to the screw could be an indentation that holds on to a notch in the shade that requires it to be twisted before it comes off.

Maybe you just need to use a little more force than you did, but that diagram seems to show that there's nothing else holding the shade on.