12/28/2025
Outdoor wall lantern question. Replacement or am I overly thinking it?
I have an outdoor wall lantern by my garage/driveway with a dusk-to-dawn sensor. While inspecting it, I tried to twist the main lantern body off the arm it mounts to. It took some force, and as I twisted, the entire lantern body rotated with noticeable resistance, which felt like it was coming from the internal wires. When I let go, the body would rotate back slightly (spring-back effect).
Eventually I was able to twist the lantern body off the arm and could see the internal wiring. Inside seemed to be three conductors: two insulated wires connected together and one bare copper wire (ground I guess?). The bare copper was fully exposed as expected. The insulated wires looked intact, though the insulation appeared thin/flaky in places.
For a few seconds, the lantern body was hanging supported only by the internal wires (not by the external hanger). There was no yanking or swinging — just briefly hanging while I looked. I then realigned the body with the hanger and twisted it back into place, again with some resistance from the internal wires.
After reinstalling: • The fixture sits flush and solid • No flickering, buzzing • Dusk-to-dawn sensor works normally (on at dusk, off at dawn) • I checked the metal shell with a Fluke voltage tester and it is not energized
My question: Is this twisting resistance and spring-back normal for outdoor wall lanterns due to solid house wiring being folded inside? Is what I did combining with briefly letting the fixture hang by the wires likely to cause damage? Does this situation create any shock or safety risk to a point I should replace the whole thing? Or am I overthinking it?
