Light bulbs burst in the chandelier - 6 reasons and a solution
Any lamp can burn out immediately after installation, regardless of type and price. If the situation repeats itself regularly, it's time to figure out why this is happening. The reason is often not a defective lamp, but wiring problems, which can cause overheating or a power surge.
To figure it out, you need to deliberately create the conditions under which this will happen and find out the exact reason. Without the skills of an electrician, this is difficult to do. Therefore, it is better to study the signs of a specific malfunction.
Reasons for failure
There are 6 most common causes of a light bulb exploding:
- Marriage admitted at work.
- Wrong choice of power.
- Overheat.
- Damaged contacts.
- Poor ceiling ventilation.
- Voltage surges.
In the days of the USSR, an increase in pressure in a light bulb could provoke a depressurization of a flask containing a vacuum.An inert gas is pumped into modern products, which is necessary to adjust the pressure during operation.
Manufacturer's defect
To protect yourself from defective products, it is enough to refrain from buying cheap LED and other types of lamps. A common marriage that is allowed in production is as follows:
- energy-saving or LED lamp drivers are of poor quality. Cheap devices are characterized by an insufficient resource of circuit elements. To recognize this reason, you need to take into account its weight when choosing a light bulb: it should not be too light;
- poorly made flask. If glass irregularities are observed near the base, this can lead to cracks and depressurization;
- changes made to the operation of the LEDs. To capitalize on gullible customers, the manufacturer can change the operation of the driver, which will affect the intensity of the lamp glow and power consumption. The first few days it will shine brightly, then the LEDs will burn out;
- unevenly applied adhesive that holds the base and flask together. An explosion in this case can be triggered by overheating.
These shortcomings can be detected visually. This lamp is useless. It is worth refusing to use or purchase if the lamp has small scratches, cracks or air bubbles inside. The rarest type of marriage is a deformed base. If the damage was already noticed at home, it is necessary to screw in the light bulb, the buyer has 2 weeks for this.
Overheat
Overheating is the most common cause of exploding incandescent lamps.The adhesive composition, which is used in production, is able to withstand high temperatures, but it has its own limit. In order not to get into this situation, it is necessary to check the light bulb for a manufacturing defect.
Dome ventilation
In this case, the destruction of the flask occurs due to the lack of special ventilation holes. Therefore, the light bulb heats up and bursts.
If the lampshade looks up, the air heated as a result of combustion will rise to the ceiling and be replaced by cold air.
This natural circulation will protect the product from overheating. But when the ceiling is installed vertically, and the light bulb looks down, the heated air will create excess pressure. This will not allow cold streams to approach the ceiling. At the next stage, the destruction of the glue and the explosion of the flask will occur.
Mains voltage
LED bulbs are equipped with special stabilization elements, which, together with the protection system, are able to deal with short-term sudden power surges. Even working at high current, after the jump, the lamp will continue to work. But this may affect its lifespan.
Incandescent lamps operate without such protection, so the voltage will be directed to the product itself and the lamp will take the shock on itself. Burnout or explosion occurs in most cases due to the fact that there is no voltage stabilizer in the chandelier.
Contact problem
To prevent the lamp from bursting due to poor contacts, after replacement, it is necessary to check them for carbon deposits and oxidation. If damage is present, they are eliminated by stripping, replacing the cartridge or installing a special insert.The destruction occurs due to the fact that bad contacts break the connection, this contributes to overheating of the light bulb.
Wrong choice of power
If a light bulb has burst in the same lamp for the first time, this may be due to incorrect power selection. Each chandelier or lamp has certain characteristics, the product installed in them must fully comply with them. Otherwise, it will often explode or burn out. If installing devices of different power did not solve the problem, it may be necessary to install a device with diodes. If it also burns out, you will have to continue searching for the reasons.
We recommend watching a video on the topic:
Does the weather affect bulb failure?
If the lights start to flicker, burn out and explode only during the rainy season, this may be due to high humidity. In the absence of a working ventilation system, the wiring in certain places collects moisture and provokes a short circuit. Appliances that are in the house, for example, a refrigerator or a TV, will withstand such drops, but lamps are unlikely.
Bulb life and warranty
In residential premises, incandescent lamps with a tungsten filament are mainly used, as well as LED, fluorescent and halogen lamps. Warranty and service life directly depend on the technology used:
- halogen has a filament. A buffer gas protects it from destruction. The resource of the product is 4000 hours;
- Incandescent light bulb lasts up to 1000 hours. After 700 hours, the emitted light may dim;
- The service life of the fluorescent lamp can be up to 10,000 hours. But this is possible only in the absence of voltage drops and infrequent switching on;
- The service life of LED devices is 50,000 hours. But, taking into account possible voltage drops, wiring malfunction and other negative factors, this period can be reduced by 3 times.
How to protect yourself from a re-explosion
If you follow the operating conditions, as well as be able to correctly select products of the required power, taking into account the lighting scheme, they will rarely burst. Therefore, it will not take long to figure out why the light bulbs explode in the chandelier. But there is another reason that is difficult to control. These are voltage drops.
To protect yourself from such situations, you can purchase a voltage control relay, which is installed in the shield and automatically adjusts the indicator. If there is free space, it will be installed on the DIN rail of the indoor switchboard without any problems.
