Lighting – Kitchen lights not working after changing bulbs

I have similar looking lights in my cabinets. The tabs on the side are meant to engage a plastic retaining collar mounted to the cabinet. The previous owners did not install the collars, but they did leave them behind in the back of one of the cabinets. Unfortunately, there were 3 missing.

For those three, I used a staple gun to make a little lip just inside the edge of the hole. Here's a picture of where I would put the staple(s) in your cabinet.

My lights had 4 tabs, so I used 4 staples in the proper position. I also used a screwdriver to back the staples out a bit for a better fit. The first one I did I just pried the staple out a bit. But for the subsequent ones I held the screwdriver against the edge of the hole and just stapled over the top.

Then to install the lights, make sure the tabs and the staples are NOT aligned, insert the light, and give it a little twist to slide the tabs over the staples.

I wonder if the bulb is not seating properly in the fixture, possible because of its shape. Are your new 130-volt bulbs wider or shallower than the originals? I've had that problem with some CFL bulbs, where they wouldn't screw in far enough to make electrical contact.

If this is the issue, you might be able to see slight scratching on the sides of the new bulbs where they are rubbing against the edge of the fixture.