G9 halogens don't buy em our kitchen one goes all the time, however our Gu10s very rarely go

Don't worry most bulbs will be LED, so they will not blow much, it may take 10 years but we will eventually all have them.

It's a combination of cheap bulbs and power surges, you will find that if a house is the first on the elec boards cable runs their bulbs will blow more that any other house on the same line as they get the surge mostly.

I have a patent on an item I have invented now and I have made the cheapest bulbs last 4 times longer !

Just buy good branded bulbs for now, none of the cheapo from Poland etc..

.......And did you also know that the WEEE regulations shortly to be introduced will make it illegal to dispose of old bulbs, tubes, Etc. in waste bins!! They will have to be treated as hazardous waste and disposed of correctly. One electrical wholesaler is quoting 50p per bulb for disposal...... Where will it end!

So we will see piles of bulbs down country lanes where the fly tippers have said they are registered to dispose of them.

Some of the rules in this country, when they started charging to dispose of old cars we ended up with burnt out cars everywhere, we still see fridges standing lonely on the side of the highway, will the people who come up with these ideas never learn.

So we will see piles of bulbs down country lanes where the fly tippers have said they are registered to dispose of them.

can see that one coming.

On the subject of weee any one else cleared the junk store of all the old kit?

Has any one also thought that an old light switch with pitted contacts and a big arch on switch on will cause the bulb to blow?

As well as using good bulbs, good accessories are always recommend! I always use MK lamp holders and switches.

It's the inrush current, I know, I've patented a gizmo and it works !

I have hear of this and i think you are correct

You are right, the reflector lamps have a large current surge when cold as the tungsten filament has a very low resistance at switch on, if you feed them through a dimmer and wind them up slowly they will last for ages. B)

hi guys,

first off i'm not a qualified or trained sparks and i respect and bow to all your combined knowedge, i do have some little knowledge and follow safe practice - even get me rubber car matt to stand on though i would not do a full rewire, i like others watch other trades while on site and ask questions so can i throw this in -

on low voltage equipment if a fuse blows, i look at it and see if its a clean brake or the glass is smoked. if smoked i'm pretty sure it is a high load short causing a surge, where as no smoke is usually (not always) a partial short or slight overload.

so now look at the light bulbs, an intermittent connection imo will cause a shorter life due to the frequency of switching the element on and off rapidly and the surges suffered, looking at a clear bulb if it is smoked after a short usage, it would make me supect a bad connection or worn switch.

an incandescent bulb when cold draws high current for a short initial period until it reaches its operating temp and then offers a greater resistance stablising the heat, if you switch it rapidly then it will not reach the full operating temp pas more than designed current and so burn out quicker (dimmers do switch rapidly but at periods which are mark space ratio and timed on the edge of the sign wave not the middle of it like an intermittent will).

i helped a neighbour last week with an emersion heater problem, it had blown 4 elliments in 3 months, couple of local sparks showed up and told them not to use the time switch but the on/off switch .

being curious i take a look, off the power (i'm no hero) and look at the connections which are all fine until i undo the main switch to see the flex was badly connected in the paste, and had obviously heated up due to arking and become brittle.

now i'm not knocking sparks in general, most i've met have my full respects, just these guys from 2 different firms might have looked just a little harder perhaps.

now the 'old' elements were not available to test, so it may be the connection being intermittent was the problem, and the eliments were fine - maybe!

anyway its been fine since time (and timer ) will tell

regs

alan

Just a quickie.

Years ago I used to fit a lot of security lighting, I made it a bit of a speciality. It was when RACAL had a low voltage system out a bit like GJD