Old bulb.

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20914
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    Old bulb.

    We bought this house in 1992 and it was new. So we have been here for 26 years

    When the house was new they had a bunch of contractor bulbs in it... Malco brand, made in Hungary, as I found them over the years as I replaced them all.
    The day before Christmas Mae told me to clean out the glass dome under the powder room light as it was silhouetting a dead bug. But the light was still good
    So I got up there and removed the cover to find this Hungarian bulb.
    Now I know that powder room light is not on for long periods of time but it gets used multiple times per day.
    Now I know only 10 minutes a day for 26 years is only 1500 hours... but still, 26 years!

    Anyway, I replaced it with an LED.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions
  • twistsol
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 2893
    • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
    • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

    #2
    When I was 13, my dad and I built a house. In the hall there was a can light that was on a dimmer and we used it as a nightlight so it was on all night every night, but at the dimmer's lowest setting. My parents sold the house in 1989 and I bought it in 2004. When we remodeled in 2007, I removed the bulb during demolition and my dad's handwriting in sharpie was on the base of the bulb, "Nov-1978." With the exception of 6 remaining CFL's in the house we've switched over to LED's as well.
    Chr's
    __________
    An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
    A moral man does it.

    Comment

    • leehljp
      Just me
      • Dec 2002
      • 8429
      • Tunica, MS
      • BT3000/3100

      #3
      I have always wondered why some lights/lamps needed replacements every 6 months to 2 years and yet there is always the light/lamp that has the bulb that has been in for 10 - 20 years. My "thinking" has something to do with primarily heat plus combination of specific bulb production run and voltage variations - It seems, from my observations, that most (bulb) changes occur(ed) in the summer time when both heat and voltage fluctuations were at the greatest.
      Hank Lee

      Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

      Comment

      • cwsmith
        Veteran Member
        • Dec 2005
        • 2737
        • NY Southern Tier, USA.
        • BT3100-1

        #4
        Loring,

        Amazing amount of time for that bulb. Add to that, the number of times that bulb has heated up and cooled down (numerous on's and off's) and perhaps it is even more amazing.

        If my memory is correct, I recall a discussion, long ago in my high school Physics Class that a light filament would accumulate far more hours if just turned on and left, as opposed to one which was turned on and off over time. Something about the filament wire's expansion and contraction causes premature breakage when compared to one long heating event. I think at the time, I argued the question, wouldn't the element just burn it's properties out over a period of time regardless of whether it was cycled or not and thus the element just burn itself out sooner if left on?

        I've had bulbs go pretty quickly (or seemingly so) while others in the same fixture seem to last years. Inconsistencies in manufacturing or what, was always the question.

        CWS
        Think it Through Before You Do!

        Comment

        • capncarl
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2007
          • 3564
          • Leesburg Georgia USA
          • SawStop CTS

          #5
          I haven’t had a lot of luck with lights in recessed ceiling cans. I think they get too hot. I can’t see led bulbs working well in that environment either.

          In the factory I worked at for 35 yrs we had a row of 120 v lights in the ceiling of our basement utility tunnel. I don’t think there was a switch for them, they just burned forever. These we moisture tight fixtures with a round glass jar cover. Some of the lights were impossible to get to for replacement and some of them had large air handler units pushed under them that made removing the glass cover impossible. I know some of the bulbs have been changed but the hard to each ones are probably still burning some 50 years after being turned on.

          Comment

          • Carlos
            Veteran Member
            • Jan 2004
            • 1893
            • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

            #6
            Maybe it's something different about the cans or LEDs, but our kitchen has had LEDs for many years and they are fine. We lost one early on, replaced it, and no issues since. Those lights are on for around five hours a day. The room is kept at 78 during summer and 74 during winter.

            Comment

            • Slik Geek
              Senior Member
              • Dec 2006
              • 669
              • Lake County, Illinois
              • Ryobi BT-3000

              #7
              Originally posted by cwsmith

              Amazing amount of time for that bulb. Add to that, the number of times that bulb has heated up and cooled down (numerous on's and off's) and perhaps it is even more amazing.
              Indeed!

              Originally posted by cwsmith
              If my memory is correct, I recall a discussion, long ago in my high school Physics Class that a light filament would accumulate far more hours if just turned on and left, as opposed to one which was turned on and off over time. Something about the filament wire's expansion and contraction causes premature breakage when compared to one long heating event.
              The resistance of the filament when cold (light is off) is much lower than when hot (light is on). So when you flip the switch, the peak current that flows initially is easily 10 times the continuous current that will be flowing after the filament heats. That causes a significant amount of stress, mechanical and thermal. That's why incandescent lamps usually would fail when you flipped the switch - and sometimes you could hear the failure.

              Originally posted by cwsmith
              I've had bulbs go pretty quickly (or seemingly so) while others in the same fixture seem to last years. Inconsistencies in manufacturing or what, was always the question.
              CWS
              Some years ago I was working with a subsidiary of of a very well known, quite large US corporation. They weren't particularly thrilled that they had been acquired by this company. One of their gripes was that the parent company required them to switch to their incandescent lamps in their facilities. The result was an increase in maintenance costs because the parent company's bulbs didn't last as long as the competitors. When they made that comment, my coworker got this funny look on his face. He explained that he had noticed that some of his bulbs were failing much sooner than it seemed like they should. So he started labeling the bulbs (like twistol's dad). Much later he confirmed our customer's assertion. That parent' company's bulbs burned out much sooner than the competition - and fell far short of their lifetime specification.

              Comment

              Working...