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Posted By: buddy burned out bulbs - 01/25/02 02:02 PM
This is probably a simple question for this group. A co-worker recently had a residence rewired and has experienced the light bulbs in one hallway burning out every couple of weeks. Any thoughts on what is causing this?
Posted By: George Corron Re: burned out bulbs - 01/25/02 03:59 PM
Loose neutral (in home run, splice, etc.) poorly made edison base sockets for the bulbs, poorly made, maybe imported light bulbs.
Posted By: Bill Addiss Re: burned out bulbs - 01/25/02 06:56 PM
Bulbs could be loose or subject to vibration somehow from the floor above, slamming doors, etc. Try a rough service bulb in the fixture.

Bill
Posted By: NoShorts4Me Re: burned out bulbs - 01/26/02 03:57 AM
As the others said. Most likely a loose neutral somewhere, obviously try looking at the fixture first. Last resort, try a 130v incandescent lamp. Covers many a problem.
Cheers
NS4M
Posted By: Steve Miller Re: burned out bulbs - 01/26/02 03:13 PM
NS4M has the right idea. There is a formula for incandescent bulbs in our apprenticeship books that says:
(Actual Life/Rated Life) = (Rated Volts/Actual Volts)^13.

Take a 130 volt, 1000hr rated bulb and feed it 123 volts and you get:
AL/1000=(130/123)^13 or 2053 hours actual life.

In contrast, take a 120 volt 1000hr bulb and feed it 123 volts and you get:
AL/1000=(120/123)^13 or 725 hours actual life.

Those 130v bulbs are life savers in hard to reach fixtures.
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