HT 8ft. T8 light fixture burned in the middle

[mikeyr]

Stupid me, I did not take picture but I will this weekend.

about a year ago I bought a 8ft. T8 light fixture at HD, it takes 4 4ft. bulbs. I have been using it with no problems at all. Never smelled smoke, never saw anything burning, the light just worked fine.

Today I decided I was going to move the light over a few feet as I moved things around, I took it down and the plastic bulb holders in the middle were fried, black badly burnt fried, I could not even remove the bulbs that holders are just charred/melted mess. The light still works by the way.

I actually thought about trying to get new holders and re-using it but I decided to throw it away and buy a new one. HD sells the same brand/model still, I don't have a lot of faith in it now. What could have caused it ?

I will take some pics this weekend but I really wonder what could have caused it.

 

[RossABQ]

Hecho en China... Sounds like some arcing has been happening, or a poor/high resistance connection...

 

[trythis]

I was trying to replace a bulb on some HO T12's stupidly with the lamp on. It arced and welded the bulb to the fixture. OOPS!

I would say yours welded together. It could be the little metal tabs on the bulbs didnt fit quite right, and the poor contact caused an arc.

 

[Furious D]

Lampholders or tombstones as we call them are available at hardware stores or electrical supply houses. We replace them at work quite often, they usually will sizzle for a while before they melt.

make sure you take your old one with you, there are a dozen or so different styles available.

 

[DURAMAT]

The lamp wasnt seated in the tombstone correctly and therefore it was arcing creating high temps.

Furious has it right, replace it and you should be golden