Light bulb exploding

KevinC

MY mother-in-law has a three armed living room ceiling light fitting. It has those normal candle incandescent bulbs. One of the bulbs exploded leaving the socked of the bulb in the socket and spraying glass all over the living room.

She want to know what went wrong as it would have been dangerous if the grand kids have of been around. What could have caused this?

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Just to give more background...It is a 35 years ago three bed semi. There was a fire in the garage causing wires to melt. These where replaced and a modern fuse board was installed. However the upper story uses the old style fuse box and the down stairs has a modern one.

The light in question has a dimmer and this dimming action doesn't work any more.

They also have a stand-up dimming lamp and it has one of those halogen stick like bulbs. Apparently this blows frequently. It is heavily used and I dont know how long they are meant to last.
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Can anyone hazard a guess?

Do the new energy efficient bulbs dim?

What could be wrong wit the main light dimmer. Is this a simple job to replace the switch?

Could the explosion been a surge?

She could live without the dimmer but would like to know the cause. She also thinks that she had cowboy electricians in before to do some work but I don't know how true that is.

Any help would be appreciated.

brightspark

Probably a cheap bulb.

Did the bulb blow on switch on or had it been on for a while?

Cheaper bulbs often allow air to leak inside, resulting in the bulb heating more due to oxygen.

Cheaper bulbs also lack a fuse which caused your dimmer switch to overload.

http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Documents/IN%20Fusing.htm

Replacing a dimmer switch isn't any harder than replacing any other light switch. Make sure that you have an earth wire if you replace the switch with a new switch that requires an earth.

You can't use normal CFL's etc on a standard dimmer switch.

I have seen special CFL's that dim to preset levels each time they are switched on/off using a normal switch.

also see these
http://www.loweleds.com/inner_1.php?cPath=46

The site doesn't say what sort of switch to use with them so I suggest you contact them directly.

KevinC

Thanks. I'll pass that info on.

KevinC

brightspark wrote: »

Probably a cheap bulb.

Did the bulb blow on switch on or had it been on for a while?

Cheaper bulbs often allow air to leak inside, resulting in the bulb heating more due to oxygen.

It was on for a while when it blew.

I actually didnt realize this but the light didn't work since it blew. Which I think casts a whole new light on the issue (parden the pun).

She is looking for piece of mind and doesnt want me to touch the thing. If anyone Electricial is interested is looking for a tiny job and wont charge the earth please PM me. She is looking for a new single light fitting replacing the tripple armed one. And also to replace place the dimmer with a i/o switch.

Thanks

DublinDilbert

KevinC wrote: »

It was on for a while when it blew.

I actually didnt realize this but the light didn't work since it blew. Which I think casts a whole new light on the issue (parden the pun).

She is looking for piece of mind and doesnt want me to touch the thing. If anyone Electricial is interested is looking for a tiny job and wont charge the earth please PM me. She is looking for a new single light fitting replacing the tripple armed one. And also to replace place the dimmer with a i/o switch.

Thanks

There's a sticky at the top of the electrical forum with some contractors...

It is quite a small job, but someone on here might be able help out, if it was close to them... Which area is she based in??

cossworxenergy

I could check your lighting problem and your wiring if you think you had cowboys. I am based in dublin and mayo. if your near any of them. my website and contact details is listed on my profile.
Wudnt charge a fortune either.