keep blowing bulbs! (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

my 1 week old house keeps blowing bulbs in one of the recessed lights, the first one lasted about a day, I got a new one today and it lasted like 4 hours and popped. Is it dumb luck, or do you suppose I need to get the electricians back to check it out?

the damn bulbs are almost five bucks each too

 

[David Williams]

My vote is for the electrician to come back. That sounds like some kind of voltage irregularity and light bulbs are usually the things most sensitive to changes in voltage. Does the light flicker/intensify when on?

 

[Lynda-Marie]

My friend Jeanne moved into her house about 5 years ago, and though the electricians have come out and checked the wiring, more than once, she still keeps blowing bulbs like there is no tomorrow. She has kept a diary, and the last time I was over to see her, she was up to 192 confirmed "kills." She has had the problem in every place she has lived, even as a child in her parent's home.

One electrician suggested that Jeanne has a magnetic personality, or has some sort of high energy discharge that causes the problems, because there is nothing they can find in the wiring, the switches or the breakers to explain it. I can half believe this, since Jeanne is a very energetic woman, and being in her presence for too long can drain toddlers.

I have to buy a new watch every time the battery dies in the one I am wearing. I will put a new battery in, and it will croak within hours. I have taken the watches back to the store, and gotten new batteries installed (exchanges) and it is the same story. Lynda kills another one. Fortunately, I don't want the really high end watches like Rolex.

 

[Philip_G]

no, not really any flicker.

even weirder, there are to bucket lights next to each other, one blows bulbs and the other doesn't, I switched the bulbs the first time to make sure it wasn't the light and the blown bulb I put in broke in the socket somehow, I went to replace it today and the glass was just barely hanging on.

 

[Jon_Gregory]

I would suggest replacing the recessed light. If it keeps blowing, it is getting too much current from somewhere. Also try to notice if the refrigerator or air conditioning come on when the bulb blows. These are inductive loads and require more power to come on. When my air comes on, my lights sometimes blink.

 

[Joe Szott]

Yeah, replace the recessed with a new socket. All of $5 at home depot and an hour or two of your time. I had this same problem and changing out the fixture fixed the issue. There can be some sort of short in the actual fixture that allows to much current to flow, resulting in shorter lifespan.

If that doesn't work, you'll really need an electrician (unless you are comfortable with using a multimeter on live wires. Not reccomended if you are not.)

 

[Philip_G]

it's a brand new house (like 7 days now) so they'll have to come out and look at it I guess.
I could replace the bucket but really why should I

 

[Ted Lee]

well, if bulbs isn't complaining then keep doing it...sheesh!

 

[Jon_Gregory]

Well, my house is about 1 year old now and I learned something about these so called house warranties. It takes them forever to do anything. When we first moved in, I was calling them about every little thing. Later, I realized that it was more cost effective to fix the little things myself, rather than wait for 3 months for them to fix something small that I could fix myself for $20.00 or less. Plus the time I would have to take off work to meet someone at my house was costing me my vacation time. So it was more cost effective many times for me to fix things myself. But if you have a great home warranty department (yeah right), by all means call them for the small things.

But if it turns out to be something big, keep on them. My advice, is to replace the recessed light fixture and if that does not solve it, (more than likely it will) you have a larger problem.

 

[Philip_G]

oddly enough the bulb is working today, go figure
not sure if can lights can overheat or something or not

 

[CRyan]

They will and do overheat. I think codes require them to shut off if a certain temp is reached. It is possible that the fault is malfunctioning or the thing is getting too hot too soon. I have been told not to use those as constant light - not for a night-light etc. as they will eventually shut off if the right conditions are met.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Is the light located in a spot that receives a lot of vibration? That'll shorten a bulb's life too.

I have a light next to my front door that I wound up putting a compact fluorescent bulb in because the slamming door would shorten the life of regular bulbs.

 

[ChristopherG]

I must think like Ted Lee - the first thing that hit me was "now there's a rather private thing to be throwing out there".

 

[DonnyD]

Require that an electrician change the fixture and ask that he check and ASSURE himself AND YOU that the grounds are tight on the fixtures that are affected and in the main load box. There are usually two things that cause continuous bulb blows.... loose grounds and power surges. Also ask the electrician to advise (if he can) which circuit those light fixtures are on and what else is on that series.
Hopefully it is a bad fixture; power surges plague us all.... especially in new contruction. Loose grounds are sometimes hard to find but an qualitfied electrician will be able to track that down too.
I would say "good luck" but all you really need is a "good" electrician.......