light bulbs keep blowing

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strauby21

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I have a customer whos light bulbs in her flower shop keep blowing along with string lights outside. I checked panel and boxes in that circuit for loose neturals and grounds. waiting to see if problem is fixed. any sugestions would be helpful
 
strauby21 said:
I have a customer whos light bulbs in her flower shop keep blowing along with string lights outside. I checked panel and boxes in that circuit for loose neturals and grounds. waiting to see if problem is fixed. any sugestions would be helpful
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Tell her to stop watering them.
 
strauby21 said:
I have a customer whos light bulbs in her flower shop keep blowing along with string lights outside. I checked panel and boxes in that circuit for loose neturals and grounds. waiting to see if problem is fixed. any sugestions would be helpful
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Have you measured the supply voltage? Is it within limits?
 
Try wiring the incandescant light bulbs in series, two at a time.
This will reduce the voltage to any bulb to 60V.
They will produce a yellow light, and last forever, almost.
OTOH, this will not resolve the Cause of the Problem,
just circumvent it.
 
I would also bet that she is using 120v bulbs and the utility is prviding power that is 125V or so, The 120v bulbs will not last long under those circumstances. I would agree to get her to use 130V bulbs.
 
Are the lights on all the time? If yes, do the math on the average lamp life hours from the package. If they are turned on & off several times per day that will shorten the life.

Is it possible to put a preset type of dimmer on them? I've found that leaving it at the brightest setting dramatically increases lamp life by absorbing some of the thermal shock to the filament when turned on.

Be sure that whomever is relamping keeps some sort of notes on when and which bulbs are being changed, it is easy to lose track of when they are actually installed.
 
Life vs Voltage

Life vs Voltage

For a typical 120V 730 hour lamp, life takes a nose dive as voltage goes up. If the service is 125V, getting 2 weeks from a lamp may be as good as possible. I agree, use a dimmer to lower the voltage, current, temperature, and light output and dramatically lengthen the life.
 
Try a traffic signal lamp. 130 volts, 8,000 hour life. Heavy duty filament. Relamped once a year at 4,000 hours, the used lamps still last forever.
Odd wattages, 69, 113, etc as the heads are lumen rated.
 
I agree with the voltage check.
I might also suggest trying daylight CFLs?
A nice option for a florist? Trying to sell color?

I have some "whiter" CFLs at the house, and in the right setting they are nice.

Doug S.

Edit: If voltages look good try installing a TVSS. I'll bet she has a bunch of compressor making a mess of the matter.
 
Sockets

Sockets

Sockets have not been mentioned yet and they are a huge cause of lamps prematurely blowing out due to excessive heat buildup at the base. Many times this is due to installing a lamp with too large of a wattage for the rating of the luminaire.
 
Exponential

Exponential

The life of an incandescent lamp varies inversely with the 13th power of the voltage. Not squared (2nd), but 13th. A 130V lamp, operated at 120V will have 3 times the rated life. A 120V lamp operated at 130V, will have 1/3 the the rated life.
 
I'd check for vibration issues also. A energized incandescent lamp easily fails if the lamp is bumped or shocked. Flourescents would be better for that type of application.
 
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