Weird issue with exterior light

[b-boy]

I have 3 exterior light fixtures. They are all on the same switch/circuit. They are on my porch. The wiring is probably pretty old IMO.

They all work great until the temperature hits about 40F. After that 1 light will no longer work. It's always the first light in the circuit. These are all LED bulbs that replaced incandescent bulbs a few years ago. I've checked/tightened connections and changed bulbs. As soon as the temps drop, the light goes out. Once the temps go back up, even for a day, it works again. The other 2 lights always work.

This never happened with the old bulbs.

I haven't replaced the fixture yet, because I'd have to do all 3 of them.

Any ideas other than a new fixture?

 

[b-boy]

My thoughts are that the cold temps are causing some contraction and movement in the fixture that is somehow causing this light to lose it's connection.

 

[The Cobbler]

try bending the center contact tab in the base of the socket upwards a bit. maybe it's just touching enough that when the temp drops it moves away from the bulb.
be sure power is off !

 

[Shiftless]

Do you have the same symptoms with incandescent bulbs?
Put some in temporarily to test.

This will rule out wiring problems.

Are those lights on a lot or just once in a while? For seldom used fixtures, I don’t think LED bulbs will save enough $$ to make it worth messing around.

The cobbler has a good idea. Besides bending those contacts clean them too.

 

[Kaizen]

Shiftless has good suggestion. rule out that bulb. led bulb could be at fault. No dawn to dusk sensors on these right?

 

[dogdog]

as much LED it is there that makes it sound Digital.... they have electronic parts like electrolyte capacitors inside. If you ever opened one, some have better electronics, some... not so much... GE has the better ones still breaks... .. Heat and cold affect those components ... I am on my 5th bad LED blub so far... mostly that HD brand and Costco brand...

What others suggested

when you say fixture ... is it one of those Dust to dawn motion sensor fixtures or if the area is really damp... otherwise it won't be the cause of the problem....

 

[b-boy]

This is just a plain old $15 ceiling porch light controlled by a switch. Nothing fancy. I did replace the LED bulb thinking that might be the issue. I had incandescent in there when I moved in a few years ago. I swapped them before the first cold spell, so I can't say whether they had the same problem. I suppose this might be a really old problem, but I'm too new to the house to realize it. I'm just assuming that the LED bulbs are the culprit.

 

[CJ7VFR]

I have found that the silver contact on the bottom of the screw part of some LED bulbs does not stick down as far as on some of the old incandescent bulbs.

If the fixture has had incandescent bulbs in it for a long time, that center contact that The Cobbler mentioned in the fixture can get pushed downward, and when you put in an LED bulb, it might work when the temperatures are warmer (metal contact expands) but then when the temperatures drop (metal contact contracts) it will not make contact with that center contact of the fixture.

I have found this to be true for just about every old light fixture that has had an incandescent bulb in it for most of it's life.

Like I always say, try all the "dumb guy" stuff before you replace the fixture so you can see just what is going on. It can save you both time and money!

Jim

 

[BillK]

Like Jim said, take a real good look at the base of the led bulb. I have a fixture inside that uses 2 bulbs. We switched them to leds about a year ago and they were giving us fits sometimes working sometimes not. I took it off the wall and started looking at it real closely and found that the LED bulbs were slightly larger at the base and were bottoming out in the ceramic part of the fixture instead of going all the way down to make good contact with the center contact. I have a couple of CFLs in there now and they work fine. We like the looks of the fixture and really dont want to change it.

 

[b-boy]

That makes sense. That would explain the issue with the LED bulbs. Thanks for the input.

I'm going to get out my ladder this weekend and see if I can bend something so I get a better connection. If that doesn't work, I'll just replace the fixtures. My wife wants to do that anyway.