ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Paul, you live out in the sticks...bulbs...

Are you plagued by constantly blowing lamps?

We go through shed-loads of the damn things! They are branded lamps ( currently a box of Osram ) but seem to last sometimes only days.

Do you have this problem? Or anyone else for that matter...

Uksparky,
You'd be amazed how many times I've been asked this question by customers, when I was an EC and I still get asked during Faults calls.
Pretty much what causes the problem, is either over-voltage, vibration or voltage spikes causing the filament to weaken or break as the case may be.
Personally, I'd install a Surge Diverter unit on the switchboard if I were you.
I had the same problem here (and I'm in town) and I fitted the Surge Diverter and I've only replaced a couple of bulbs in the last year.

Bulbs seem to last about the same here as most places, so I certainly wouldn't say it's a problem.

As I've mentioned before though, for a rural area at the far end of the distribution network the supply here is pretty stable, and over-voltage (by more than a couple of volts) is rare.

I've never had anything hooked up to monitor the other aspects of power quality here, but I'd bet that transients, switching surges, etc. are also pretty minimal. The sub-station feeding the 240/415 network on my estate has only domestic loads, and there's no heavy industry on the 11kV grid in the immediate area.

I had the same problem with blowing globes on a regular basis (2-3 a week). The problem was solved by tightening the screws in the switchboard for both the active & neutrals for all the circuits in the board (the nuetral for the lights was two turns loose) & replacing the 240 volt globes with 260 volt OSRAM 'rough service' globes. Result: up to 6 months before a single globe had to be changed.

Replacing the bulbs you currently use with higher-voltage rated ones seems to be a common solution.

At home I use 130-volt "long life" bulbs that are brought in from China. My house current is at 118-119 volts and one of those bulbs may last me about a year.

And since I buy them at the bulbs at the dollar-stores ($1 for a pack of 4), I come out ahead.

The filaments of these Chinese bulbs are also better supported (five points of support) than the ubiquitous General Electric bulbs where the filament is only supported at the two lead-in ends.

A 75-watt GE bulb only lasts 750 hours (think it's a 110 volt bulb marked 120 volts?) while the Chinese version may be marked as 120 or 130 volts and it's touted as lasting 1,000 or 5,000 hours (depending on the voltage it's put across).

I've noticed some grocery stores selling 110-volt rated bulbs. They may be brighter, but they don't last as long.

UKSparky,



As can be seen, volts is 'pushed' up as a general rule - have many friends cry because of high bulb costs.

http://www.marcspages.co.uk/pq/?6620 was cure given to a few (now, I am more than aware that a lot will frown at this solution - but it works!).

M.

Thanks guys.

I rewired the house completely four years ago, and I have rechecked varuous terminals etc in the hopes I might find an easy cure No such luck.

I would use 'low-energy' lamps - but I hate the colour-rendering as well as the appearance.

I suspect I need to set up the V-logger and see what goes on, then perhaps look at cleaning up the supply. Fortunately, if this is the case, the PC is as yet unaffected ...now there's a small miracle!

Cheers again.

Hi Sven!,
Yes we have the "budget" light bulbs here too, something like 30c each.
uksparky,
I agree with you, however, in my office here, where my computer is, I use a fitting I made up from a 13W ballast and 2 9W PL-S (Colour 840) lamps and the difference in the colour between that and the normal room lights, is quite remarkable.
With 18W of fluorescent lamps, I can easily light this room up and to a certain degree it's a bit kinder on the eyes, when looking at this monitor.
Just while we're talking about light bulbs,
do you guys have the compact incandescent bulbs?.
Same wattage lamps, but with a smaller glass envelope.
I saw some at the local wholesaler yesterday, they looked really strange!.

{Sorry about the thread-jack, uksparky}

Oh we have all kinds of bizarre things! Mushroom, pygmy, golf-ball, candle... All available with ES, SES, BC, SBC. Our GLS lamps are generally all a standard size, with slightly larger envelopes for 150W versions. All the above weirdos are available from 25 to 60W, mushroom up to 100W.

{Sorry about the thread-jack, uksparky}

Well hell...no probs!

Some bulb types seem to go in and out of fashion. Looking back, I seem to recall mushroom-shaped bulbs being quite popular when I was a kid, now you don't seem to see them used anything like as often.

Here's a good selection of bulbs:
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Menu_Index/Lamps_and_Tubes_Index/index.html