Blowing halogen bulbs

Q: I recently put in seven 50w recessed-lighting fixtures on a dimmer switch in a finished-basement room. I’m using halogen bulbs for their whiter light at low voltage. I’ve been going through these fairly pricey bulbs ($8.50 a pop) at an alarming rate, but only in one or two of the fixtures. My wife insists (naturally) that the problem is in my wiring. Could she (gulp) be right? Or could I have just gotten a bad bunch of bulbs?

A: Rex Cauldwell, a master plumber and electrician from Copper Hill, Virginia, and author of Wiring a House, replies: As you probably already know, when doing any work around your own house, including wiring, the first rule is that your wife is always right. In this case, however, maybe she isn’t.

If bulbs are blowing in only two of the fixtures in the sequence, the bulbs couldn’t be bad. A better bet is that in those two fixtures, the center terminal connection inside the socket is bad. If this connection is even slightly loose, the internal bulb connection will overheat and cause the filament in the bulb to break. I’d replace the two fixtures, and to be on the safe side, double-check your wiring. I always hate to hear “I told you so.”