Blowing light bulbs

Posted by Chris Lewis on July 26, 2005, 8:47 pm

Yeah, I know, not this topic again... But this is getting ridiculous.

I have a string of about 6 pot fixtures in the basement with BR30
bulbs. The fixtures are switched by a pair of 3 way switches.
The fixtures are open to the air - the ceiling hasn't been
drywalled (yet).

The bulbs are burning out at a very high rate. Within a week
of getting them all working again, at least one goes out, within
another month, usually all of them are dead.

As far as I can remember, these have all been Sylvanias, some
"extended lifetime" (hah!).

Most of the time, a bulb expires when we "flick" (as opposed to
"sloowwly presssss" ;-) one of the threeways. The threeway switches
are relatively newish decora type switches. Probably cheapies -
I'll bet they bounce a lot.

I'm looking for real-world experience here - has anybody solved
lamp burnouts like this by replacing the switches? Are there
line filters for this sort of purpose?

I want to exhaust those possibilities before going on an expensive
quest for more expensive bulbs.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

Posted by HeyBub on July 26, 2005, 4:31 pm

Chris Lewis wrote:

> Yeah, I know, not this topic again... But this is getting ridiculous.
> I have a string of about 6 pot fixtures in the basement with BR30
> bulbs. The fixtures are switched by a pair of 3 way switches.
> The fixtures are open to the air - the ceiling hasn't been
> drywalled (yet).
> The bulbs are burning out at a very high rate. Within a week
> of getting them all working again, at least one goes out, within
> another month, usually all of them are dead.
> As far as I can remember, these have all been Sylvanias, some
> "extended lifetime" (hah!).
> Most of the time, a bulb expires when we "flick" (as opposed to
> "sloowwly presssss" ;-) one of the threeways. The threeway switches
> are relatively newish decora type switches. Probably cheapies -
> I'll bet they bounce a lot.
> I'm looking for real-world experience here - has anybody solved
> lamp burnouts like this by replacing the switches? Are there
> line filters for this sort of purpose?
> I want to exhaust those possibilities before going on an expensive
> quest for more expensive bulbs.

There is a gizmo, looks like a wafer, you can put inside the bulb socket, to
limit the surge to the bulbs. I bet it's just a flat resistor, but it might
help.

Posted by Jeff Wisnia on July 26, 2005, 6:05 pm

HeyBub wrote:

> Chris Lewis wrote:
>

>>Yeah, I know, not this topic again... But this is getting ridiculous.
>>I have a string of about 6 pot fixtures in the basement with BR30
>>bulbs. The fixtures are switched by a pair of 3 way switches.
>>The fixtures are open to the air - the ceiling hasn't been
>>drywalled (yet).
>>The bulbs are burning out at a very high rate. Within a week
>>of getting them all working again, at least one goes out, within
>>another month, usually all of them are dead.
>>As far as I can remember, these have all been Sylvanias, some
>>"extended lifetime" (hah!).
>>Most of the time, a bulb expires when we "flick" (as opposed to
>>"sloowwly presssss" ;-) one of the threeways. The threeway switches
>>are relatively newish decora type switches. Probably cheapies -
>>I'll bet they bounce a lot.
>>I'm looking for real-world experience here - has anybody solved
>>lamp burnouts like this by replacing the switches? Are there
>>line filters for this sort of purpose?
>>I want to exhaust those possibilities before going on an expensive
>>quest for more expensive bulbs.

>
>
> There is a gizmo, looks like a wafer, you can put inside the bulb socket, to
> limit the surge to the bulbs. I bet it's just a flat resistor, but it might
> help.
>
>

IIRC they aren't just resistors, they're thermistors, which have a
moderately high resistance when cold, to limit the bulb's turnon surge
current. They warm up fast with current flowing through them and drop
way down in resistance so that most of the power gets used by the bulb.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

Posted by Matt on July 26, 2005, 7:05 pm

Blowing lightbulbs is a felony.

Posted by Jeff Wisnia on July 27, 2005, 11:18 am

Matt wrote:

> Blowing lightbulbs is a felony.
>

So is screwing in one:

http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/temp/screwing.gif

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

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