Charred wires

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splinetto

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I recently pulled down a incadesent light and the wires were blackened and crispy about 6" out of the box...All the connections looked good..Could it have been caused from putting too high wattage of bulbs in... there were 60s in it when it came down however I would of never of guessed 2 100W bulbs could of done that much damage...Or is there something else I could check out ???
 
Bulbs were too big. I've seen completely melted wire nuts from ONE 100 watt bulb in a 60w fixture. Old style jelly jar with all new wiring
 
Which wires were crispy? the fixture wires or the branch circuit wires? If it was the branch circuit wires, probably pre NM-B, and most likely the wrong size bulb installed... people will install what ever they have on hand...
 
stickboy1375 said:
Which wires were crispy? the fixture wires or the branch circuit wires? If it was the branch circuit wires, probably pre NM-B, and most likely the wrong size bulb installed... people will install what ever they have on hand...
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The house is only 7yrs old.... There was a 14/2 and 14/3 and they both were toast along with the fixture wires as well as the sockets. The socket just fell apart when I took the bulbs out
 
I say the bulbs too. I actually have one in my office,that I took out of a house that was less than 2 years old when it went POOF!. just melted the insulation off of the fixture wires.
 
Putting high-wattage bulbs in a low-wattage fixture can do _some_ damage, but usually just kills bulb life. It sounds like a defective fixture or poor wiring initially (arcing in splices, etc.).

Or maybe they had 200 W bulbs in there? Do you know for a fact it was 100 W previously?
 
lordofpi said:
Putting high-wattage bulbs in a low-wattage fixture can do _some_ damage, but usually just kills bulb life. It sounds like a defective fixture or poor wiring initially (arcing in splices, etc.).

Or maybe they had 200 W bulbs in there? Do you know for a fact it was 100 W previously?
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Not if all the wires were charred, it was definitely a lamp issue. Seen it a hundred times, always with the wrong lamp installed.
 
I've seen it MANY times. Lamps are too hot. Even the 60 watt lamps can create a LOT of heat. 2, 100 watt lamps will peel the paint off the ceiling and burn the drywall paper.

If the wires are too crispy to repair with tape and you can't get any slack to work with you can strip off the old insulation and slip some #12 insulation over them. Same idea as heat shrink but easier and certainly available on your truck.
 
220/221 said:
I've seen it MANY times. Lamps are too hot. Even the 60 watt lamps can create a LOT of heat. 2, 100 watt lamps will peel the paint off the ceiling and burn the drywall paper.

If the wires are too crispy to repair with tape and you can't get any slack to work with you can strip off the old insulation and slip some #12 insulation over them. Same idea as heat shrink but easier and certainly available on your truck.
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I have to try that next time...
 
I've seen this before, including once that ALL the wire insulation was gone, the Sheetrock crumbled when the fixture was removed, and the attic insulation above was charred. 2 - 100w lamps in a 2 - 60w fixture. That is one HO who will ALWAYS pay attention to the max rating of a fixture.
 
Was the fiberglass insulation in place??? MANY electricians (wanny bee electricians) will through away the insulation on install because it is too much trouble to deal with.
 
Cavie said:
Was the fiberglass insulation in place??? MANY electricians (wanny bee electricians) will through away the insulation on install because it is too much trouble to deal with.
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I've cussed a few guys out when I see them do this.
 
Cavie said:
Was the fiberglass insulation in place??? MANY electricians (wanny bee electricians) will through away the insulation on install because it is too much trouble to deal with.
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I've always thought that insulation was a energy code, nothing to do with the proper function of the lights?
 
stickboy1375 said:
I've always thought that insulation was a energy code, nothing to do with the proper function of the lights?
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I always thought that the insulation was to shield the ceiling from the heat generated from the lamps.
 
They'd love it

They'd love it

Maybe that'd be a good thing, stamp the Device, with the wattage limit, at the least.

Seems the decal stating anything 110.3 is the first thing that gets worn out...
 
stickboy1375 said:
I've always thought that insulation was a energy code, nothing to do with the proper function of the lights?
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The insulation is to keep the heat off the building wire. that is whay you see that shinny foil on the back of it. that is why the electricians throw it away, it si a PITA to get the screw thru and se how to line up the heads of the screws with the monting slots. (been there, done that, got the t-shirt.) Not a book lernt inspector. The fixture wire can take the heat.
 
Semi-off topic, and I apologise, but just felt I had to respond. We installed some parking lot lights in a high school I was working on, and all but two fired up. Well OK, we start troubleshooting. First one: dead lamp. swapped the lamp, and away she went. The second one? Not so much. The marette itself had gone soft on one side, and melted away on the other side, and a bunch of the insulation was charred. This was on the lead coming off of the transformer. turned out the transformer was no good right from the get go...but lucky that had been inside a metal can, and spotted right away.
 
cadpoint said:
Maybe that'd be a good thing, stamp the Device, with the wattage limit, at the least.

Seems the decal stating anything 110.3 is the first thing that gets worn out...
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Next time you have a fixture, look at it. It will have a sticker on it stating the max lamps wattage. Weather it is there by the time the bulb blows out is another matter.
 
It has been said many times already but I will say it again. Too high a wattage lamp will char those wires 9 times out of 10. Many times HO will ask if the stickers can be removed from the globes, but I will not in hopes that correct wattage will be put in.
 
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