ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades BC light bulbs in France?

SBC (Small Bayonet Cap) bulbs in at least basic pearl and clear candle styles are pretty easy to obtain here in most hardware stores.

ES seems to have become quite popular for reflector spot bulbs in downlighters. I too have noticed how this type in particular seem to jam in quite easily, and I've often had to extricate the remains of such a lamp where someone has tried to remove a blown bulb and the glass has come away from the base.

One cause of the overheating is that fiberglass insulation is often laid straight over the top of the lamp cans.

I only remember 2 or three occasions where I had to extricate the remains of an old bulb from the socket and in one case some genius smashed the glass. I don't have any problems with ES, Well, other countries other customs...

Well at least you don't have the wonderful fiber glass (or safer alternatives) wool laying traditions that we in Ireland and the UK seem to have.

DIYers and contractors lay this stuff right over the top of recessed lighting and all sorts of electrical gear in their attics

I've had to rescue bell transformers and TV amplifiers and even a whole phone system from under this stuff.

It will generally cause a light fitting to fuse and melt. The only redeeming feature is that it's fiberglass and thus fireproof and also tends to limit any fire to a very localised area due to its oxygen starving capabilities!

In my experience, it's only the recessed can-type downlighters that have this problem. ES bulbs in other fittings seem to be fine.

The insulation-jockeys really do just cover up everything when they're let loose in an attic.

Ragnar said:


I've had to do that a few times also. Sometimes the cement holding the screwbase to the glass envelope comes loose from the heat. Then the bulb is dangling by the two little wires that go into the bulb. My grandmother actually had a bulb fall out of the socket like that ! She saw drop, land on the floor and bounce around without shattering!

I didn't believe it until she took the glass bulb with the two broken stumps of wire from the kitchen counter and showed it to me. The screwshell was still in the lampholder in the ceiling.

What some people suggest you do is use a potato or a wooden broomstick.

Unscrew or pull the fuse (or throw the breaker) and jam that sucker into the socket and turn.

I've never done that. I just knock off the power and use a fine pair of needle nose pliers, grab the edge of the metal base and turn. Much easier and I don't have to waste food.

Well, first my experience with light fixtures is pretty much limited to our own apartment, and we _don't have fiberglass or mineral wool anywhere. Besides, we don't have any recessed cans, they're pretty uncommon in resi work here, and in commercial locations they typically use compact fluorescents. The only recessed fixtures that are real common here are 12V halogen spots. We had several of them melt down until we replaced the leads and strip connectors with heat resistant silicone ones.
I use nose pliers for getting out broken bulbs and try to grip the screw shell, usually after unscrewing the fuse and taking down the fixture.
Excpet for the bathroom we only have pendant fixtures here, and in the bathroom the 100W bulb toasted the cloth wire in the ceiling. Gotta take care of that some time. The Ikea plastic fixture cracked as well.

DJK said:

The Legrand range of those grounded French plugs with the pull-ring makes them look a bit like tea kettles.....

You all probably haven't ever seen the old Maté plug range of the 1950ies to 70ies. Either black or white, old ones were bakelite, later ones some different plastic, porcelaine body. If they didn't break they were everlasting. The plug is cylindrical and protrudes 3.5cm from the wall, in full diameter of the Schuko receptacle, even getting wider towards the end in a stair-like pattern. If you can't pull that one out you can't pull anything!
I've got 3 working ones and one that is so badly smashed even the porcelaine body cracked and the pins hang loose.
They're pretty rare, I suppose that's beacuse in those days Schuko plugs were mostly limited to rough environments, so probably most of them cracked at some point. Ungrounded plugs of those days are much more common.
Modern Schuko plugs are indeed much smaller.

I've seen some old schuko plugs that were in use in Ireland many years ago. They're HUGE (in comparision to their modern schuko equivilants) round black plugs that protrude quite a bit from the wall.

Something on the scale of an old british kettle plug (just with pins rather than holes)

Sound like the ones you're talking about?

The old BS546 (15A) plugs were absolutely gigantic too. Porceline round and either black or white. They were actually so large (due to being round) that it was quite difficult to get a good grip as most people's fingers don't extend that far! Ergonomics certainly didn't enter into the heads of whoever made them!

[This message has been edited by djk (edited 10-15-2003).]

Not quite as huge, but that's about it. They were basically cylindric, 7cm in lenght overall (w/ pins) and 4cm in diameter. Really nice to grip.