jb-eye Posted November 30, 2005 Posted November 30, 2005 I wish I knew where people got this information from, Lurch, What i used to find in the olden days was that lamps usually suffered from two symptoms of short life. 1/ 220-230 volt rating on supplies of 244volt (did we ever get around to dropping our voltage) and 2/ high ambient temperature as in this fitment is designed for a 40 watt lamp and someone stuffs in a 60watt. any thoughts?Jef Customers!
Paul P Posted November 30, 2005 Posted November 30, 2005 (did we ever get around to dropping our voltage) ?Jef No it was just a paperwork exercise they dropped the declared voltage and increased the upper tolerance it was (Correct me if I am wrong) 240volts +or- 6%, now it is 230volts +10% & -6%. On measuring mains voltage 240ish is still the most common but have seen up to 250volts with no reported problems. Trade Member
Guest Posted November 30, 2005 Posted November 30, 2005 Lurch, What i used to find in the olden days was that lamps usually suffered from two symptoms of short life. 1/ 220-230 volt rating on supplies of 244volt (did we ever get around to dropping our voltage) Nope, still the same. 245V is not unusual round here (well, not round here, but back at home, because I'm not at home and I don't what the norm is all the way down here!) Some of the cheapo lamps are just imported euro lamps, which are 220-230V rated. <Insert What Paul said> 2/ high ambient temperature as in this fitment is designed for a 40 watt lamp and someone stuffs in a 60watt. any thoughts? Yep, where do you get 40 and 60W GU10's from? With reflector lamps, then yes, but they're **** anyway for lamp life. GU10's are generally designed\intended for use with 50W lamps.
Vince8282 Posted November 30, 2005 Posted November 30, 2005 Bad batches in manufacture is the main cause in my experience. Ranging from poorly welded connections within the lamp to lack of vacuum. Just as rapid switching on and off tends to shorten the life of good lamps a loose connection in any part of the circuit will have the same effect. Good maintenance should highlight any problems with the circuit or fittings but sadly people tend to call for help only when the lamps fall on their heads or "even a new lamp will not work" Best wishes Vince Practice in the morning, practice at night. Practice in the evening, until you get it right. Only make sure you are practising in the right way at the right time for it.
Smart Electrics Posted November 30, 2005 Author Posted November 30, 2005 Harmonics of cause. Ile have to check that out. I should of said in my first post these bulbs are only lasting from 1 to 4 days out of the box. !!
Guest IM_Alarms Posted November 30, 2005 Posted November 30, 2005 Gu10 has always been a compromise lamp, best to steer clear of compromises!! what is the rated average life span of sylvania Gu10 lamps then, bet it's not much more than 1000-2000 hours?
Guest Posted December 1, 2005 Posted December 1, 2005 what is the rated average life span of sylvania Gu10 lamps then, bet it's not much more than 1000-2000 hours? Dunno I'll have to look that one up. I do know that there are some in my house that have been in for several years and are in regular use. I'm not adverse to changing lamps every couple of years or so, some people want them to last forever and anything less is just useless.
Pierre Posted December 6, 2005 Posted December 6, 2005 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 Hi Smart, A loose neutral, in some circumstances, may mean that you could be getting 400 volts across the equipment in the property. This would certainly shorten the life of your lamps and may permanently damage fluorescent fittings or other inductive loads. Is there a 3 phase supply in the building?? I once had a chat with a helpful guy from Osram about short lamp life. He said that a lamp running at 10 volts over its rated voltage could have its life reduced by 20-30%. Which means a 1000 hr lamp may only last a couple of months if it is on for 10 hours a day! Trade Full Member
Guest johnburger Posted December 16, 2005 Posted December 16, 2005 In my experience the commonest request from my customers is "fix the wiring my light bulbs keep blowing". Usually replacing them with good brands solves the problem to some extent. Remember that the bulbs are designed to blow not last or the manufacturers would go bust. Car lamps rarely blow even in the most arduous environment (cold, heat, vibration, road bumps, indicators on/off all the time) there must be some legislation forcing the manufacturers to make them properly. Anyway the worst time for any lamp is being switched on as there is an initial surge so a loose connection in the live or neutral will dramatically shorten the life of the lamp as it goes on and off regularly. Probably the only sollutions are to rewire or do very accurate tests of continuity. If the problem is with an entire circuit you could assume that the live supply wire and the neutral wire would have the same reistance from the fusebox to the last light. If you found a difference then the high one would be the one with the fault you could then work back towards the fusebox until you got identical readings and locate the fault that way. If the problem is with only one light then check the switch or dimmer. Hope this helps. John Burger
Guest G.J.M Posted December 16, 2005 Posted December 16, 2005 i use dimmers in the house and swith on low-the bulbs last longer.
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