My daughter is having a problem with the light bulbs in her exterior fixtures blowing frequently. The wiring is new. The exterior fixtures are are on two different circuits each one in a separate panel (One goes to the main panel and the other to a subpanel). Both have conventional circuit breakers, i.e. no GFIC or AFIC. One circuit has two fixtures that have a photo sensitive switch built-in and three standard fixtures. It is wired in a three-way switch arrangement. The other has two standard fixtures from a different manufacturer and a single switch.
I’ve checked everything out and it seems fine. I also had her experiment with different types of bulbs, e.g. standard incandescent, heavy-duty incandescent and florescent. All blew out within a few weeks.
All of the other lighting circuits are fine.
Any suggestions?
Replies
heat, vibration or a slaming door...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Is rain getting to the fixtures ?
What is the voltage at the fixtures ? (Actual measured voltage, not just assumed.)
First thing to do is to measure voltage about ten different places in the house. Should all be within a volt or two of each other.
and florescent. All blew out within a few weeks
assume you meant fluorescent ... blew in a 'few weeks???!! can understand vibration, O/Volts, etc, for incandescent of any kind, but not for F. All my trouble lights are fluorescent, just to be able to take shock and vibration.
Sounds like a neighborhood kid with a bb gun.....
Let me put out this, which I thought was nonsense when I was told it:
If the bulbs are pointing down, rather than up, the bulbs wear out faster due to overheating (heat, in a gas form, rising up and staying around the bulf). Doesn't matter if the fixture is open at the top or not. True indoors and outdoors.
Any possible truth in this?
Not much. Some specific bulbs are speced for only base up or base down, but it doesn't make any diff for standard 60W bulbs. And they don't seem to go much faster when enclosed in a fairly tight (say, 8") glass globe. (This holds for modern CFLs as well.)What will kill them? Vibration, loose connections, rain, and high voltage. Oh, and hail.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
My front lights did the same thing. Ther were over heating. rewired for 220 volts and feed with 120, six years and counting.............not much light loss either.
Are they all auto switching and wired to a motion detector? Rapid cycling can cause them to fail faster than if they are just left on.
The heat shock of turning on and off can cause them to deteriorate.
Try ceiling fan bulbs, or capsylite halogen outdoor lamp bulbs. Or replace with metal halide or high pressure sodium fixtures.
Thanks for the suggestions.
The bulbs are not on a motion sensor so we're trying the different bulbs.
I have used traffic light bulbs with great sucess. They seem to last forever. I find them on ebay. Just a thought. Mike L.