Small Home Gazette, Summer 2013

Answers to Your Toughest Bungalow Questions: hickey for light fixture

Q: I just bought a re-wired, antique ceiling fixture, and it came with a hanger strap that attaches to the electrical box in the ceiling with screws. But there is a threaded, stubby post hanging down from the center of the box that gets in the way of the strap attaching securely. Should I replace the box?

A: You could, but that sounds like a lot of work. Instead, you might treat yourself to a hickey.

The top of your ceiling fixture likely has a hollow rod with threads on the outside. A hickey is a metal connector that attaches the rod in your fixture to the threaded post in the center of the electrical box in your ceiling. Hickeys come in different sizes to accommodate various diameter threads. Slots on either side of the hickey allow the wires to come out of the rod and connect with the wiring in your electrical box. It sounds complicated, but these photos should help you understand how this marvelous invention with the misleading name works.

So, visit your favorite lighting store and loudly ask for a hickey. Chances are you’ll walk out with either a metal connector, a red mark on your neck or both. Life is short—live dangerously!

A hickey for hanging a ceiling fixture.

A ceiling electrical box in need of a hickey.

A light fixture connected to a ceiling electrical box using a hickey.