User Panel
Posted: 11/20/2012 4:10:52 PM EDT
So earlier tonight I had a thread started about how light bulbs keep burning out in my apartment.
I deleted it because I thought it was coincidence. A bulb that I just installed tonight decided to go tits up on me in the same socket as earlier. What would do this? ETA: Problems with one specific socket tonight. Blew bulb, tried replacing bulb and it blew. |
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Either is possible, though the bulbs are not from the same package.
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Get a digital multi meter and check your line voltage.
I have a table lamp in my living room that religiously blows incandescent bulbs every three months, like clockwork. Good quality, so-so quality, everything. I got tired of it an put in a CFL and it hasn't blow one of these ever, in five years. Gremlins. Chris |
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Yup, switch off the breaker and pull the socket. It shouldn't be hot without a load and damn sure shouldn't have loose wires.
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What kind of fixture? What bulb rating for the fixture? What kind of bulbs are you using? Different branch circuits? Different switches?
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Happened to me too! Quickest fix was to just screw the bulb into a new house.
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Yup, switch off the breaker and pull the socket. It shouldn't be hot without a load and damn sure shouldn't have loose wires. Who the heck kills the power to 110V? I service everything here live. Just do like ghost busters and "don't cross the streams"..... |
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When you pull the socket make sure that the black wire is attached to the brass side of the fixture. Make sure the ground wire is attached at both ends. You can check this by using an ohm meter to see if there is continuity between the white wire and the ground wire.
If you don't understand what I just said, or you don't know enough to shut off the breaker before you try any of this, GET an electrician involved. |
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What does it mean when there is a delay between turning it on and the lights coming on?
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Quoted: Happened to me too! Quickest fix was to just screw the bulb into a new house. |
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What kind of fixture? What bulb rating for the fixture? What kind of bulbs are you using? Different branch circuits? Different switches? You're worse than my customers. |
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Yup, switch off the breaker and pull the socket. It shouldn't be hot without a load and damn sure shouldn't have loose wires. Who the heck kills the power to 110V? I service everything here live. Just do like ghost busters and "don't cross the streams"..... I tried that once, the key word here is once. Please turn off the power. |
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"His light bulb burned out long before his legend ever will"
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My house eats bulbs like candy, in all the rooms, has for 13 years.
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put a penny in the socket...screw bulb back in ..problem solved..!
trust me....turn power off FIRST !!!!... |
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Replace the receptacle, if that doesn't solve the problem then it's probably heat related.
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OP in addition to what has been suggested, check your voltage. If it's much over 120v that can blow bulbs. They make bulbs rated for 130v if you find out your voltage is a little high.
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Yup, switch off the breaker and pull the socket. It shouldn't be hot without a load and damn sure shouldn't have loose wires. Who the heck kills the power to 110V? I service everything here live. Just do like ghost busters and "don't cross the streams"..... People that don't want to risk getting shocked unnecessarily. |
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Resistance (the bulb), plus capacitance (the wires), plus spark gap repeatedly collapsing the field = voltage multiplication. You've got a bad connection somewhere or the switch is dirty.
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Bad socket or loose neutral wire. and Quoted:
Bad socket, High resistance. = Solution. |
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My house eats bulbs like candy, in all the rooms, has for 13 years. Check your power. You could have very dirty power coming from the city. |
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OP in addition to what has been suggested, check your voltage. If it's much over 120v that can blow bulbs. They make bulbs rated for 130v if you find out your voltage is a little high. Quoted:
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Yup, switch off the breaker and pull the socket. It shouldn't be hot without a load and damn sure shouldn't have loose wires. Who the heck kills the power to 110V? I service everything here live. Just do like ghost busters and "don't cross the streams"..... People that don't want to risk getting shocked unnecessarily. Naa, I hate resetting clocks. You learn to be careful and pay attention. "don't touch the black with the white"...... |
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Quoted: What does it mean when there is a delay between turning it on and the lights coming on? Do you use incandescent or CFL's? |
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A loose neutral can cause problems. A 240/120 volt service has 2 feeds which are normally each 120 volts when measured from the neutral. In buildings built since the 1960's, the neutral is also supposed to be grounded so it is 0 volts relative to ground. If there is a loose connection in the neutral, that neutral can develop voltage relative to ground- I once measured approximately 45 volts on the neutral of a residence. This voltage is added to the voltage on one feed, and subtracted from the other feed. In the case mentioned above, there was 165 volts on 1 feed, and 75 on the other. Some lights were very bright and burned out (165 volts), some were dim (75 volts).
This can be dangerous in that the neutral voltage can also show up on plumbing and appliances which may be tied to the ground circuit. Another problem is that if you are near the electrical substation that supplies your area, voltage can be high. My brother lived in a house with over 130 volts, and logged his voltage readings for a month. The power company fixed it at the pole transformer. |
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Standard light bulb? If not, certain decorator bulbs have position limitations. Some bulbs will burn out prematurely if installed upside down since the heat off the filament will cause the getter to emit instead of gathering reactive gases.
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Do you have any dimmer switches? I've got one on a ceiling fan that eats bulbs regularly.
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Quoted: Quoted: What does it mean when there is a delay between turning it on and the lights coming on? Do you use incandescent or CFL's? Actually one on the left is inc and the right is cfl. They both come on about 1 minute after you flip the switch.
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kept blowing bulbs on my garage light.
It's hooked up to a light sensor so it goes on at night. There was a loose wire. Now it stays on almost all the time but doesn't burn out |
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Just turn down the voltage.
I like to run about 118 volts at my house. |
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Just turn down the voltage. I like to run about 118 volts at my house. Screen name says you're bullshitting us |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What does it mean when there is a delay between turning it on and the lights coming on? Do you use incandescent or CFL's? Actually one on the left is inc and the right is cfl. They both come on about 1 minute after you flip the switch. 1 minute! Dang, I though you were talking about a half a second or so, |
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Do you have any dimmer switches? I've got one on a ceiling fan that eats bulbs regularly. I've got two CFLs in mine; one flickers dimly when the fixture is supposed to be off! |
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Just turn down the voltage. I like to run about 118 volts at my house. Screen name says you're bullshitting us Oh no... I used to run around 122 volts. Evertyhing was nice and bright, sure... My bulbs last longer, and we just use slightly less power by running down at 118 volts. I tried lower, but at 115 volts, wife said everything was dim, and just seemed 'slower'.... whatever. 118 volts gets the job done. |
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Get a digital multi meter and check your line voltage. I have a table lamp in my living room that religiously blows incandescent bulbs every three months, like clockwork. Good quality, so-so quality, everything. I got tired of it an put in a CFL and it hasn't blow one of these ever, in five years. Gremlins. Chris Same here. We have one external socket that blew incandescent bulbs in about a month or two, but after installing a CFL and subsequently an LED bulb its been fine. |
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Quoted: 220v too. My mom has had the same 40W 220v bulb in her stairwell 110v light fixture since 1974 and it gets used daily. Serious. It's a German bulb though so it is obviously superior. OP in addition to what has been suggested, check your voltage. If it's much over 120v that can blow bulbs. They make bulbs rated for 130v if you find out your voltage is a little high. |
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Had the same problem at a rental I used to live in. Replaced all the bulbs with CFLs and never had to change a bulb again.
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My house eats bulbs like candy, in all the rooms, has for 13 years. Check your power. You could have very dirty power coming from the city. Yup. If this is the case you should turn on the light without the bulb and use a wet rag and soap and thoroughly clean the power as it comes into the house. Please videotape this, BTW. |
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Here are all the details:
Studio style lighting, each switch controls 2-3 bulbs. One switch has a single fixture on it that as of tonight has been popping bulbs like fuck. Everything is dimmer controlled...except the dimmer is broken for that series of fixtures (either on or off). |
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Here are all the details: Studio style lighting, each switch controls 2-3 bulbs. One switch has a single fixture on it that as of tonight has been popping bulbs like fuck. Everything is dimmer controlled...except the dimmer is broken for that series of fixtures (either on or off). Probably a bad fixture. Get up there, pull out the fixture and rewire it. If that doesn't work, it is probably a bad fixture. As to the dimmer switch, if you can turn off the power, buy a new dimmer switch and replace it. They go bad sometimes, just like fixtures. |
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What does it mean when there is a delay between turning it on and the lights coming on? Do you use incandescent or CFL's? Actually one on the left is inc and the right is cfl. They both come on about 1 minute after you flip the switch. I would guess a bad switch. |
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kept blowing bulbs on my garage light. It's hooked up to a light sensor so it goes on at night. There was a loose wire. Now it stays on almost all the time but doesn't burn out It was probably turning on on off which will burn out a bulb very quickly. Heating and cooling the filament will cause stresses and after so many cycles, they will break. |
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