# Halogen bulbs exploding



## J. Temple (Dec 30, 2011)

A transient voltage surge? Are any electronic appliances blown.? Are all the lamps on the same circuit?


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## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

Those are by far the worst bulbs ever created by man... Ive had two of them burn up two different outdoor light fixtures. One was an a19 and the other was a 60 watt candalabra that melted the tube that carries the wires to the socket in an outdoor pendant and cause a direct short.. They get way to hot... Im surprised there havent been more house fires because of them..


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

I just about agree with CaptKirk this one and I have a funny feeling that the bulb manufacter may did " down rate " the voltage on the bulb and with your standard 120 volt supply ( sure give and take couple ) if look super bright I think the manufacter did on purpose to use lower voltage rating like example a 100 volts instead of 120 volts that can get super bright and shorten the life.

That what I am thinking about due our European counterpart we do have halogen bulbs as well almost simauir style you have and yeah.,, guess what we are not too far off from that as well.

I have couple halogen bulb expoled simair way as you posted ( they are caused by enclosed luminaire ) the open one are not too bad unless end of life that will do it.

Meadow .,

Was this on the dimmer ?? if so they may not run wide open for a while to let the halogen do what they are designed for. 

Merci,
Marc


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

meadow said:


> I put in dozens of these bulbs about 3 months ago in various fixtures during a remodel. Get a call today this morning that a light bulb had exploded with 3 already done so in a week  I haul ass over there thinking a neutral has opened up somewhere.
> 
> When I got there a good chunk of them had already burnt out but another good chunck that were working had seriously blackened capsules about 3 of which had large bulges in them and that would explain why I had found another 2 that had already shattered. Most of the blackened and blown bulbs were in ceiling flush mounts and one was in the range hood.
> Voltage checked out ok at all fixture and service panel 118 on one leg 119 on the other.
> ...


Are those ceiling flush mounts Rated for halogens?

I doubt it they get way too hot.

Those capsules usually crack or even explode inside the lamp just like metal halides.


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## Meadow (Jan 14, 2011)

frenchelectrican said:


> Meadow .,
> 
> Was this on the dimmer ?? if so they may not run wide open for a while to let the halogen do what they are designed for.
> 
> ...


Yes most of them were on dimmers, the reason why I assumed it was ok because the boxes and the catalog says "fully dimmable" :no:


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

frenchelectrican said:


> ...Was this on the dimmer ?? if so they may not run wide open for a while to let the halogen do what they are designed for....


 Good thinking. That sounds about right, because I know that incomplete heating/cooling cycles of MH lamps is what causes the quartz in those to fail as well.

-John


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## Meadow (Jan 14, 2011)

HARRY304E said:


> Are those ceiling flush mounts Rated for halogens?
> 
> I doubt it they get way too hot.
> 
> Those capsules usually crack or even explode inside the lamp just like metal halides.


The flush mounts are rated for two 75 watt incandescents, the halogens draw only 43 watts while being an equivalent to a 60 watt. 

Not all the ones that failed like this were in flushmonts but some where in wall sconces as well. My guess the same applies to the wall sconces?


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

meadow said:


> The flush mounts are rated for two 75 watt incandescents, the halogens draw only 43 watts while being an equivalent to a 60 watt.
> 
> Not all the ones that failed like this were in flushmonts but some where in wall sconces as well. My guess the same applies to the wall sconces?


Oui they will do the same thing if stay in dimmed mode or only on for short time not let it get hot engough to cycle it properly.

The other thing it kinda clicked in my mind when you mention to me that you have dimmer in that customer's place did they used " green " dimmers aka perament reduced dimmer instead of conventail dimmer you can crank it up to full 100 % of voltage while the " green " dimmer only crank up about 80 to 90 % of line voltage so it may cause that issue.

Merci,
Marc


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

I am sure you know the solution. Try a different non halogen and see what happens. Halogens get very hot and that is why they are usually a par lamp. I can't imagine the A lamp lasting long with the heat. It would also depend on the fixture it is in. If the fixture is enclosed then that would be worse.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

meadow said:


> The flush mounts are rated for two 75 watt incandescent, the halogens draw only 43 watts while being an equivalent to a 60 watt.
> 
> Not all the ones that failed like this were in flushmonts but some where in wall sconces as well. My guess the same applies to the wall sconces?


Remember that a 75 watt incandescent does not get as hot as a halogen lamp and i do not think that the flushmount fixtures are rated for halogen lamps at all because they get way too hot in fact about 3 time hotter..


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## WestyLightBulb (Apr 9, 2012)

That tells you the incandescent ban was a dumb idea. I have used a lot of those Sylvania halogens and have yet to have issues, even horizontally. All of the ones that burnt out still had crystal clear capsules. However as a light bulb expert as well as a hobbyist, I am always careful to check bulbs before buying, I check to make sure the filaments are straight, not sagging or touching the glass. I believe the issue with the blackened bulbs above is that it may have been a batch that was damaged in shipment, the filaments got badly stretched and touched the glass capsules, causing them to overheat and blacken/melt real bad. I also think the capsules in Sylvania halogens are way too small. The GE halogen bulbs have oversized capsules and I have not seen one with severely stretched filaments in a long time. Also, the halogens being hotter than standard incandescents isn't true. A 43w halogen is nearly as bright as a 60w incandescent and in my tests it is only a bit warmer than a standard 40w incandescent. They still seem to have problems with being incredibly fragile and somewhat unpredictable life however, and it's real dumb to ban conventional incandescents, it's bit too premature really.


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## Meadow (Jan 14, 2011)

WestyLightBulb said:


> That tells you the incandescent ban was a dumb idea. I have used a lot of those Sylvania halogens and have yet to have issues, even horizontally. All of the ones that burnt out still had crystal clear capsules. However as a light bulb expert as well as a hobbyist, I am always careful to check bulbs before buying, I check to make sure the filaments are straight, not sagging or touching the glass. I believe the issue with the blackened bulbs above is that it may have been a batch that was damaged in shipment, the filaments got badly stretched and touched the glass capsules, causing them to overheat and blacken/melt real bad. I also think the capsules in Sylvania halogens are way too small. The GE halogen bulbs have oversized capsules and I have not seen one with severely stretched filaments in a long time. Also, the halogens being hotter than standard incandescents isn't true. A 43w halogen is nearly as bright as a 60w incandescent and in my tests it is only a bit warmer than a standard 40w incandescent. They still seem to have problems with being incredibly fragile and somewhat unpredictable life however, and it's real dumb to ban conventional incandescents, it's bit too premature really.


When I got these they were brand new at the time. Sylvania had just introduced them to the market. I will admit I ran into some newer ones just recently that didn't have this issue and just burnt out normally. I think one factor here was these might have been on dimmers or were just lemons being a new product. I agree the capsules on Sylvania are small. Others use a bigger capsule or even mount the filament horizontally like Fiet and some Chinese GEs. 

By chance would you or anyone else know what flushmounts and other fixture can take in terms of halogens? I encounter this often on re-lamps.


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## WestyLightBulb (Apr 9, 2012)

Well in those flushmount fixtures, to be safe don't exceed the rated equivalent wattage marked on the fixtures. If it says to use max 60w incandescent, then use 43w halogens or 15w CFLs or 9.5w-13.5w LEDs, all of these are 60w equivalents.

BTW yep I can tell the pictured bulbs are the older ones with the smaller A-17 outer bulbs, they have since gone to the regular A-19 size like on the old incandescents. That last pic of the package by the way was taken by me LOL.


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## Meadow (Jan 14, 2011)

WestyLightBulb said:


> Well in those flushmount fixtures, to be safe don't exceed the rated equivalent wattage marked on the fixtures. If it says to use max 60w incandescent, then use 43w halogens or 15w CFLs or 9.5w-13.5w LEDs, all of these are 60w equivalents.
> 
> BTW yep I can tell the pictured bulbs are the older ones with the smaller A-17 outer bulbs, they have since gone to the regular A-19 size like on the old incandescents. That last pic of the package by the way was taken by me LOL.


 
Thanks for your input! Ive noticed they are bigger now, don't know why they were smaller to start with. I have to admit the new GEs from Mexico are better than those Chinese ones. They seem to last longer. Good to know its your pic, sorry about that, I thought it was from Sylvania since it was one of the first to pop up on Google pics.


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