What could cause this?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Knuckle Dragger said:
In my experience some these older fixtures have a black tar substance insulating around the terminals.
Click to expand...

chain pull mechanisms may be lubricated with some form of dielectric grease, which can migrate and then change composition as it literally bakes from the heat of the bulb. but then i question, could that bulb last that long?
 
ptonsparky said:
Judging from the age, it most likely has black friction tape around the soldered splices. Heat from the lamp, and time, has caused the tape adhesive and insulating materials to flow.
Click to expand...

Friction tape tends to dry up IME.

It could be due to even something as simple as pine rosin leaking and dripping from decking and getting into the box, unlikely though b/c think about that set up there- how is the rosin getting (could be a little hole in the fixture maybe) past the socket to the bulb?

Another possibility is some type of cooking exhaust/ humidity/ventilation/reaction type of thing (the staining is brown...)- there is some staining on the bottom edge of the 2x6 to the immediate upper left of the fixture as well some soot looking stuff on the 2x6 that tees into the one mentioned. The looped bx going thru the notch also has some slight intermittent staining- IDK if that would be the case b/c the brown looks like it is oozing out the fixture, and grease grime should be also cover the fixture in such a scenario.....
 
Last edited:
mbrooke said:
FWIW this particular pic is not mine but from a home inspection. Other inspectors, including myself are at a loss to explain this, thought I do have a theory I am willing to share latter on.
Click to expand...
until the fixture is pulled there can be a pretty wide range of speculation, seeing what is behind it may very well narrow down the possibilities.
 
mbrooke said:
Black tar like substance dripping from what appears to be the armor jacket:

http://forums.mikeholt.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=16302&stc=1&d=1482036151
Click to expand...

The armored cable is almost certainly not the cause of anything like this.

The extension of the lampholder away from the porcelain attached to the octagon box is very unusual, in my experience. I could suspect an old capacitor leaking it's electrolyte that flows when heated, and blackens when exposed to the bulb's surface heat.

The capacitor could be part of a lamp life extension dongle from the after-market.
 
Last edited:
al hildenbrand said:
The armored cable is almost certainly not the cause of anything like this.

The extension of the lampholder away from the porcelain attached to the octagon box is very unusual, in my experience. I could suspect an old capacitor leaking it's electrolyte that flows when heated, and blackens when exposed to the bulb's surface heat.

The capacitor could be part of a lamp life extension dongle from the after-market.
Click to expand...

What the heck is an extending dongle?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
al hildenbrand said:
The armored cable is almost certainly not the cause of anything like this.

The extension of the lampholder away from the porcelain attached to the octagon box is very unusual, in my experience. I could suspect an old capacitor leaking it's electrolyte that flows when heated, and blackens when exposed to the bulb's surface heat.

The capacitor could be part of a lamp life extension dongle from the after-market.
Click to expand...

Yup, definitely an engineer.
 
al hildenbrand said:
The armored cable is almost certainly not the cause of anything like this.

The extension of the lampholder away from the porcelain attached to the octagon box is very unusual, in my experience. I could suspect an old capacitor leaking it's electrolyte that flows when heated, and blackens when exposed to the bulb's surface heat.

The capacitor could be part of a lamp life extension dongle from the after-market.
Click to expand...

GoldDigger said:
The only life-extending add-ons I am aware of for screw-in use are those diode disks that cut the current in half. No capacitors in them AFAIK.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

At first, it sort of looks like a pull chain adapter, but upon further closer looking, I think Hildenbrand is right- it's a bulb life extender- one that failed, and something inside is leaking, no telling what it is. Some of those contained neoprene like stuff- maybe that melted????

Tony S said:
I’ve seen that staining on lamps in damp locations. I’ve never bothered to find the cause, I just change the lamp.
Click to expand...

Seriously, never? That looks pretty bad, most people would want to know whats going on.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top