Handyman Tip To Remove A Broken Bulb
We've all had to deal with broken bulbs. They scare many homeowners to work around as there are sharp pieces of glass and exposed electrical filaments. So how do you remove them? Well, you start off by making sure the electricity is off.
There are many ways to remove it, but basically you have to get the socket to start moving counter-clockwise. On larger bulbs, you may have a thick filament you can grab with pliers and turn, otherwise, most smaller bulbs don't leave much of anything to grab.
I've heard people using half of a potato to push it into the socket and turn it out, but there is something about a wet potato and potential electricity that really bothers this handyman. If you plan on pushing something into the socket to turn it, try crumpling up some newspaper and stuffing it into the socket. The friction should be strong enough to get it started.
I like using needle nose pliers. You can place the pliers inside the socket and open them. That's right...open them. By opening the needle nose pliers, each arm of the pliers will contact opposing sides of the inside of the socket. This should allow you turn unscrew the base of the bulb.
I have also used two small needle nose pliers and actually grabbed 2 opposing sides of the bulb's base. The key is to use 2 very small pliers, and you have to slightly bend the metal bulb base inward to have something to grab onto, without chipping the fixture's socket.