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Posted by aemeijers on June 5, 2008, 11:28 pm
RBM wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>>>> I have an outside pole lamp. The bulbs have been blowing out every
>>>>>> 4
>>>>>> weeks or less. Instead of merely burning out, 2 have actually had
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> globe shattered and the rest have a black sooty spot at the top. Any
>>>>>> ideas as to what it is and/or how I stop it?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> What kind of bulb and fixture are we talking about? Usually water on
>>>>> a
>>>>> hot
>>>>> bulb will cause it to immediately burst. Is rain water getting into
>>>>> the
>>>>> fixture?
>>>> Just a regular outside light that takes a regular incandescent bulb.
>>>> Like you see in front yards. I don't see any obvious signs of water
>>>> (nothing running down the sides of the glass that contains the bulbs,
>>>> no
>>>> obvious signs of rust, etc, but the bulbs do fail at pretty much the
>>>> same spot every time/
>>>
>>>
>>> There are Teflon coated lamps available which are less prone to
>>> shattering.
>>> You might want to give one of those a try. I think they have them at
>>> Home
>>> Depot, but they call them rough service bulbs. You will see that they
>>> have
>>> a plastic coating over them. If not Home Depot try an electric supply
>>> company.
>> Thanks to both of you for the suggestions. I'll probably try the rough
>> service first.
>
> Rough service lamps come with and without the Teflon coating. I think the
> ones with it are called shatter resistant or some such thing. I would first
> try a CF lamp as they don't get as hot so may be less likely to shatter
>
>
Nobody suggested it, so I will- turn off the breaker, and take the
fixture apart (including any screw connections or accessible wire nuts),
clean it all, and put it back together. I suspect the contacts in the
socket are gunked up, and it is arcing at turn-on. Maybe, just for
laughs, while it is apart, replace the socket- they are cheap. Most
builder-grade pole lamps I have seen are pretty much junk to start with.
Is this thing switch-only, or does it also have an auto sensor? If those
get full of dead bugs, they can start doing flakey things.
--
aem sends....
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