Florescent Ceiling fixture shuts off.

[Chucktin]

We've got 3 of these florescent fixtures. One in the kitchen and 2 in the utility room. Pictures are attach.
In the utility room the far one shuts down after a while. I suspect it overheats?
I want to replace them with LED fixtures but how do I get the plastic grid/lens off? It doesn't want to slide off and I haven't been successful getting it off with any combination of squeezing and/or tilting I can think of.

 

[Norcal]

Can you post photos of the fixtures? There are a number of variations so without a photo it's hard to give any help. As to fixtures shutting off, most ballasts are thermally protected, so if the ballast temp exceeds the value of the thermal protector, they will shut off until it cools down.

 

[Chucktin]

Kay-rap I never attached the pics. Here they are - first pic is of the utility room ceiling and both fixtures there. Second is a diagonal view of one of them. There's a third fixture on the kitchen ceiling identical to these. In the picture with 2 it's the furthest fixture that shuts down.

 

[spudley]

Pretty sure those diffusers are form fitted. If you push up on one side, then in, then pull the other side down, it should come off easily. We had a few dozen of them at an office bldg I worked in. Guess who cleaned them?

 

[pattenp]

You just push up on the diffuser so you can get your fingers on the edge at one end and peel the diffuser edge down and out. Kinda like peeling the lid off a Tupperware container.
Actually they look a little different than what I have, so spudley maybe closer on how to remove the cover.

 

[Norcal]

Lithonia LB series wraparounds. Push up towards the ceiling on one edge and pull out and and down on the other side, sometimes they are a PITA if they are a little tight but don’t force them as they will break.

 

[Chucktin]

Thanks! Yes if can be broken - yours truly will find a way!

 

[Norcal]

Thanks! Yes if can be broken - yours truly will find a way!

Replacement diffusers are around $25 at HD so you don’t want to break it, but it is one of the reasons I like the Lithonia LB series, the diffusers are as common as dirt.

 

[Chucktin]

If I can get them open and then down I'll put in 4' LEDs.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Good luck - BE GENTLE! Those things get more fragile with age and with being "cooked" with fluorescent bulbs. Just make sure your HD has the diffusers in stock... we had a set in an office that had been there for probably a decade, when we replaced the bulbs 2 diffusers broke, and ended up being a special order only item...

 

[Chucktin]

Not worrying, LEDs the ticket.