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Porch light burns out very fast zmike6 06-04-2007
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Posted by Jeff Wisnia on June 5, 2007, 9:45 am
Joseph Meehan wrote:

>
>
> Two things tend to burn out lamps early, water and vibration. A leak
> somewhere will provide the water. You want to eliminate that. Vibration is
> also possible. Is that light near some sort of equipment that may vibrate,
> like the garage door? I suggest you may want to try a CF (compact
> florescent) or garage door lamp. Both tend to handle vibration better.
>

Regarding your using the term "burn out"...

I concur with the vibration part, but how does water cause a bulb to
"burn out"?

I can see water corroding electrical connections and maybe those
connections would cause localized heating at the base of the bulb which
could even melt the soldered joint at the base tip and disconnect the
bulb, but that won't make the filament "burn out" will it?

A better term to use have been "fail", not "burn out". <G>

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.


Radiant Heat 468x60
Posted by Joseph Meehan on June 5, 2007, 1:46 pm
Jeff Wisnia wrote:
> Joseph Meehan wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Two things tend to burn out lamps early, water and vibration. A leak
>> somewhere will provide the water. You want to eliminate
>> that. Vibration is also possible. Is that light near some sort of
>> equipment that may vibrate, like the garage door? I suggest you may
>> want to try a CF (compact florescent) or garage door lamp. Both tend
>> to handle vibration better.
>
> Regarding your using the term "burn out"...
>
> I concur with the vibration part, but how does water cause a bulb to
> "burn out"?
>
> I can see water corroding electrical connections and maybe those
> connections would cause localized heating at the base of the bulb
> which could even melt the soldered joint at the base tip and
> disconnect the bulb, but that won't make the filament "burn out" will
> it?
> A better term to use have been "fail", not "burn out". <G>
>
> Jeff

Frankly I have wondered that myself.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit




Posted by Harry K on June 5, 2007, 4:09 pm
wrote:
> Jeff Wisnia wrote:
> > Joseph Meehan wrote:
>
> >> Two things tend to burn out lamps early, water and vibration. A leak
> >> somewhere will provide the water. You want to eliminate
> >> that. Vibration is also possible. Is that light near some sort of
> >> equipment that may vibrate, like the garage door? I suggest you may
> >> want to try a CF (compact florescent) or garage door lamp. Both tend
> >> to handle vibration better.
>
> > Regarding your using the term "burn out"...
>
> > I concur with the vibration part, but how does water cause a bulb to
> > "burn out"?
>
> > I can see water corroding electrical connections and maybe those
> > connections would cause localized heating at the base of the bulb
> > which could even melt the soldered joint at the base tip and
> > disconnect the bulb, but that won't make the filament "burn out" will
> > it?
> > A better term to use have been "fail", not "burn out". <G>
>
> > Jeff
>
> Frankly I have wondered that myself.
>
> --
> Joseph Meehan
>
> Dia 's Muire duit- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I went through two floodlight bulbs (flagpole lights) before I
realized that they were not 'burning out' it was the GFI breaker
blowing when rain got into the socket. Now when the light is out, I
check the GFI first.

Harry K


Posted by Don Klipstein on June 6, 2007, 12:08 am
>The outdoor light adjacent to my garage is burning out bulbs very
>fast. It worked fine using the original bulb for more than four
>years, then I noticed it would tend to go out sometimes (a light tap
>on the fixture would bring it back). Eventually the bulb burned out
>completely and I replaced it. The new bulb worked OK for about 6
>months then began to exhibit the same behavior until it failed
>completely. So I replaced the bulb again and now it's dead after just
>3 days. The fixture appears to be designed for typical 60w
>incandescent bulbs
>
>If it matters, there is another outdoor light on the same circuit that
>does not suffer from rapid failure.
>
>Does this sound like a short, loose wire, corrosion in the fixture?
>Is excessive voltage the main thing that can burn out a bulb
>prematurely?

One other possibility: What kind of bulbs you are using.

"Standard" 60 watt incandescents are typically rated to last 1,000
hours, and 12 hours a day that means average of 2.5-3 months, some more
and some less.

There are longer life and industrial service and traffic signal versions
of incandescents.

There are also garbage offbrand ones, such as some from dollar stores.
I have seen some dollar store ones from sources who are so bad at having
their act together as to claim the same light output in lumens from at
least 3 different wattages!
Given the performance I have seen from dollar store compact fluorescents
(subpar to lousy to bad to outrageously bad in my experience), I have low
faith in dollar store lightbulbs in general! Maybe better from Dollar Tree
than from other dollar stores, since at Dollar Tree I have seen lack of
"brands" that I have experienced as lousier and lack of (*cough-sputter*)
dollar store compact fluorescents, but I still don't like the idea of a
100 watt incandescent producing less light than a "standard" 75 watt one
with only moderately longer life expectancy than "standard".

- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

Posted by N.J. Crane on June 6, 2007, 7:21 pm
Try a 40 watt bulb, see what happens.
I had the same problem with a kitchen light fixture. Call Home Depot
and see what type of bulb they would recommend.
I knew what I needed when I had a plumbing problem, saved a couple of
$$$$$$ when I called in the plumber.
Nancy


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