installing lamps

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jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I haven't but don't see why you couldn't. They start dim, take awhile to get fully bright, don't create great heat until then & light won't blind you starting out. .
 

zapped 1

Member
Location
north port fl
i heard from someone saying it could arc and ruin the lamp. i work with a bucket truck normally overiding time clock or photocell to see which lamps are burning and usually change lamps while fixture is hot to determine if i need to shut down power to install rebuild kit. thanks
 
T

T.M.Haja Sahib

Guest
Ya do know those lamps could explode....I do not change them hot, most of the one's I work on are 277v or 480v.

I do not think explosion hazard esists for other types of discharge lamps such as sodium lamps etc.,
 

hillbilly1

Senior Member
Location
North Georgia mountains
Occupation
Owner/electrical contractor
It is done all of the time, but there are hazards involved, defective lamp or ballast causing lamp to explode, lamp breaking while inserting causing electrocution hazard. I know of a competitor that was changing parking lot lamps live when the lamp broke, and the employee was electrocuted.
 

the blur

Senior Member
Location
cyberspace
70E probably prohibits you from screwing in lamps while the socket is energized. we use 2 guys with a cell phone, and turn off the breaker.
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Now that you mention it, I do recall a 400W MH bulb breaking in a guy's hands when he was unscrewing it. Was jammed & he had leather gloves for grip & protection. One could break while tightening if the base had a flaw. Kill the power.
 

mark480

Member
I do them hot all the time and wear safety glasses, but after reading this thread maybe i should turn the power off all the time ......thanks for the wake up call :)
 

Knightryder12

Senior Member
Location
Clearwater, FL - USA
Occupation
Sr. Electrical Designer/Project Manager
I have had one explode on me when I was changing the lamp out hot. Luckily it was just after I had closed the lens. I was in a hurry and being stupid. Never will do that again, I will always take the time to de-energize for sure.
 
When I first started (14 years ago) the guy teaching me told me to never touch a HID lamp with your bare hands. The oil from your hands can create a weak point and the lamp will fail prematurely. The guys at the new company I work for never do this and insist that its fine. I still wear gloves or use the sleeve the lamp comes in to install them, but am I taking precautions that do not need to be taken?
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
When I first started (14 years ago) the guy teaching me told me to never touch a HID lamp with your bare hands. The oil from your hands can create a weak point and the lamp will fail prematurely. The guys at the new company I work for never do this and insist that its fine. I still wear gloves or use the sleeve the lamp comes in to install them, but am I taking precautions that do not need to be taken?

The outer bulb is just a shield for the inner arc tube.

Halogen lamps are the ones you don't want to touch with bare hands.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Do HID lamps explode at start up? And if they do how violent is it? The pressure is not very high yet

Wearing gloves not a bad idea even if it is not energized, if the lamp would break your risk of being cut is pretty high. Same for safety glasses - if it breaks and you are looking up at it where are the fragments going to go?
 
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