Bulbs burning out

[bls2dpj]

I have a standard outside wall light on the garage. It's a motion sensing light. It's been going through bulbs about 1 every 10 days. It functions correctly, I.e. Comes on at night when it senses motion and it goes off at he time I specified (5 minutes). But it keeps burning through bulbs like crazy. I've tried the old filament style bulbs and the coiled up fluorescent but it still burns them out. Any ideas of why???

I've put up a replacement light in the meantime but would like to keep the fixture because it matches the house quite nicely.

DJ

 

[GuyllFyre]

Many times that is a bad or corroded socket or wire connection.

 

[AP514]

Interesting.... I have a bathroom bulb that does the same thing(it is in a row of 4 but the same one burns out all the time)
Going to keep an eye on this for answers......

P.S. sorry im not help

 

[manioso]

Not sure why you're burning out old fashioned incandescents, but spiral compact fluorescents won't tolerate that type of motion controller. They work by passing a small current through the bulb when off. The electronics (ballast) will burn out prematurely. I had same problems with several porch lights in wall sconces around my house and garage. Each sconce had three bulbs, and I had five sconces for a total of 15 lamps. With 40 watt bulbs that was 600 watts total. Since the rather expensive CFL candelabra doesn't last, I had to switch to incandescent.

If you're still getting poor life out of incandescents, I'd suggest you look at the voltage delivered to the fixture. If higher than 120v nominal, that could be the source of your problem.

 

[bls2dpj]

What's crazy is I've had the fixture for over two years and used the coil type bulbs without any issues up until about a month or two ago.

 

[big.jim]

start with checking voltage and then tightness on connections

 

[justsam]

Have you installed any equipment that is running and causing vibration near this fixture?

Are any other bulbs not lasting, or just in this fixture?

How is the garage fed power, from the residence, separate pole feed, or?

 

[IOWNJUNK]

Had the same problem when I lived in military housing, as long as the bulb was on it was good, once you turned it off it would never work again, just a pop and then replace the bulb. We just quit turning the lights off and bought lamps for the bedrooms. I would just replace the fixture and be done with it. You have probably paid for a new one already in bulb replacement costs.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

Try putting an Oscilloscope on it, not that I think you have one, it may be pulsing the voltage rapidly through it so fast you can't see it blink.

 

[raiderhillbilly]

If you can find a "rough service" bulb that says 130v instead of 120v it will last longer. You will not have quite as many lumens, however.

 

[tractordude]

I had the same problem with a ceiling fan in our kitchen. Now, the fan part was never used, so rule out vibration. I tried different brands of bulbs,Etc. Tested the voltage Etc. I finally just bought a different ceiling fan, now we don't burn out bulbs like before.
My thoughts were the cheap wiring, all that stuff is made in china and elsewhere

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I would start with a voltage test!

 

[bls2dpj]

Voltage test showed everything was good and all the connections were tight. So either a bad wire or just a cheaply made fixture. I replaced it with a basic security light and installed two flood lights. Not as aesthetically pleasing as the other but it going to function better then what I had.

Thanks for all the input

DJ

 

[Norcal]

A neutral being used from another circuit can cause premature incandescent lamp failure. It's a easy mistake to make.

 

[Sureshot]

Does it bother your neighbours?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

A neutral being used from another circuit can cause premature incandescent lamp failure. It's a easy mistake to make.

How so??

 

[James-W]

If it were me, and if it isn't very expensive, I would just replace the unit. That will probably fix the problem, but even if it doesn't fix it you won't be out very much.

 

[DIC]

I had the same problem with my front porch light It would only last a week or two. I finally figured mine out, when the door shuts it shakes the fixture. I put it a rough service drop light bulb and now it does not burn out.

 

[sberry]

I had a fixture problem with a motion and it was a neural issue. The handyman that installed it had not used a connector on the box at the service, must have taken a while to chafe thru but the N was arcing on the can. Its been a while so the details are fuzzy but fixed it and never had another problem.

 

[ishiboo]

I have two 500Ws on my barn that do the same thing. Put a bulb in and it lasted an hour. Went with heavy duty bulbs - same thing. I THINK it's the contacts on the sides of the bulb being too tight, but I'm not sure. It ***** as they are 20' up.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I had a fixture problem with a motion and it was a neutral issue. The handyman that installed it had not used a connector on the box at the service, must have taken a while to chafe thru but the N was arcing on the can. Its been a while so the details are fuzzy but fixed it and never had another problem.

Neutral arcing on the can? That doesnt make sense...neutral and ground should be at the same potential at the main service panel!

 

[rockwithjason]

even in well grounded systems a small voltage exists between ground and neutral at remote locations. the closer you get to the main bonding jumper the less voltage is present

 

[MFolks]

A source for legal incandescent light bulbs:

http://www.newcandescent.com/

 

[mtne]

A loose neutral can cause micro arcing which will shorten the life of the lamps. Imagine each arc as an on/off cycle. If you feel safe doing it tighten all the lugs in your panel. While worse with AL wiring, the load cycle over time causes expansion and contraction loosening the lug. If nothing is amiss there, and it is happening only in one lamp base I would suspect an internal wiring issue causing micro arcs. Generally voltage isn't an issue unless it is + or - 10% or even more.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

even in well grounded systems a small voltage exists between ground and neutral at remote locations. the closer you get to the main bonding jumper the less voltage is present

Sberry said main service panel...