Bulbs Blowing

[Smart Electrics]

Am I right in thinking that a loose Neutral will cause problems with continuous light bulbs blowing. I have had loads of call outs to a elderly home where they are in the process off having new electricity meters installed. Light bulbs are blowing all over the place. Voltage is a steady 231 & 243 VAC in each of the residents accommodation. Any other ideas

[Adi]

Theres a couple of site i go to and their lamps are forever blowing.

So if anyones got a clue...

[Paul P]

Theres a couple of site i go to and their lamps are forever blowing.

So if anyones got a clue...

Oh that old chestnut!

The only reason I have ever found for bulbs blowing frequently is:-

Over voltage not common in the U.K. (Except one tenant who fitted 110v Bulbs pinched from work)

Lampshade with no ventilation, like the small glass things old dears have.

Bulbs not hanging the traditional way.

Thing like candle & golf ball bulbs.

Poor quality bulbs (Yes the customer love this one)

[hiro]

Oh that old chestnut!

The only reason I have ever found for bulbs blowing frequently is:-

Over voltage not common in the U.K. (Except one tenant who fitted 110v Bulbs pinched from work)

Lampshade with no ventilation, like the small glass things old dears have.

Bulbs not hanging the traditional way.

Thing like candle & golf ball bulbs.

Poor quality bulbs (Yes the customer love this one)

Poor quality bulbs (Yes the customer love this one)-found this is the most common problem

[Adi]

one site has osram lamps so they should be ok, not sure of the others but they are r63 reflector lamps, maybe the heat.

[Barsnake]

In My Old Days As An Electrician Always Had Problems With ES Lamps

Centre Live Not Touching Fully, This Always Went Through Lamp's

Pulled It Back With Snipnose Pliers Then Polished It Up With Fibreglass Pen From RS

Yes Cheap Lamp's Normally The Favorite With BC

[Guest IM_Alarms]

Yep, normally the lamp quality, people don't seem to like hearing how their 39p lamps from Tesco's are no good.

Reflector lamps of the Ro** variety are normally **** and as for Gu10 , don't even go there!!!

Always try to get the customer to use good brands and preferrably low-energy like PL/ SL/ 2D even if it's the "C" versions. Worth the money.

If you still have problems, stick a voltage monitor on the electric supply for a while and see what the high/ low value is. I've had a couple of jobs recently where the electricity board have had missing neutral (

[Guest G.J.M]

don't install those Italian bulbs you get from Edmunsons.

I have sites with numerous problems on em-lighting and sparks have also been moaning of the same with down lights etc.

cheap bulbs is a definate cause.

Platino or something similar i think they were called

[CompostCORNER]

I agree cheap bulbs tend to blow after only a short life. It does make you think if theres something sinister going on when they often blow in the same rooms yet other rooms, their lamp bulbs seem to last forever.

Our dining room lamp used to blow quite regularly and I started to suspect a mains fault. Then I managed to get a bargain from B&Q several months ago. They were selling a card with 5 of those low energy bulbs on for a penny shy of a tenner. I thought it was a great opportunity to give these bulbs a try. Guess what? No more blowing bulbs. I've invested in more of these as they do the business and I don't seem to have any problems with lights anymore. I even purchased a special one that has a built in night light for the landing. 2 switches of the switch and it is a normal low energy bulb. A quick off-on and its a very kind to the night time eye orange.

The only gripe with these sorts of bulbs is that they take a minute or two to reach full brightness.

[Guest]

and as for Gu10 , don't even go there!!!

I wish I knew where people got this information from, I have fitted hundreds of GU10 fittings, many at home, and have never had an above average problem with blowing lamps, apart form 3 new fittings that I put up with really really **** lamps that nearly all blew within a Month. The replacement Sylvania lamps are performing as well as all the other Sylvania lamps throughout the house.

As for general lamps blowing, harmonics, by which I mean spikes\surges etc... coupled with sustained over voltage and cheap lamps from Netto mean you'll spend more time replacing them than using them. Some cases are worse than others and won't have all the above problems, but there isn't a specific thing that just makes lamps blow, apart from using cheap supermarket ones!