GU10 halogen bulb exploded?

JY360 · Jul 21, 2015

Hey there,

I recently moved into my new home which is entirely lit by 50 watt GU10 halogen spotlights, though I am gradually purchasing LED equivalents whenever money can be spared due to the fantastic efficiency.
Last night I switched on the livingroom lights which is lit by a total of 8 spotlights, one of them instantly exploded with a bright blue flash and sent shards of glass all over the room.

My knowledge of these bulbs isn't great, so I'd like a little help understanding why that would have happened without a power surge or any other obvious problem.
Frankly, I soiled my pants and I'm terrified to turn them off again through fear of it happening again.

Thanks!

Spoon · Jul 21, 2015

Hi JY360. Welcome to the forum. I have heard about this. It usually that the cheap make of lamps usually blow, but even then it's not that often that they explode.
I personally have never understood the fascination with the GU10 lamps. A mate at work has more wattage in his bathroom than I have in my entire house....

Richard Burns · Jul 21, 2015

Explosions are rare but they can happen if there is a slight flaw in the glass envelope that slowly weakens over time and then shatters.
The lamps are meant to be designed to contain any glass in the outer glass containment but I have frequently seen GU10 lamps where the glass front has fallen off. I would recommend replacing any that are like this.
Normal fails for a GU10 halogen is either do not start or fail with a flash and take out the circuit breaker (this is on cheaper lamps that do not have an internal fuse in the bulb itself.)

JY360 · Aug 2, 2015

Spoon said:
Hi JY360. Welcome to the forum. I have heard about this. It usually that the cheap make of lamps usually blow, but even then it's not that often that they explode.
I personally have never understood the fascination with the GU10 lamps. A mate at work has more wattage in his bathroom than I have in my entire house....

They provide nice lighting in a modern home I think, but the wattage is ridiculous. They add a good 600W per room to an already power hungry home. Thankfully the recent LED alternatives are a truly viable option at just 5W per lamp.

Thank you for the replies, I'll be sure to replace them as soon as I can. There are still loads of tiny pieces of broken glass planted in the furniture and I could do without that.

Deleted member 9648 · Aug 2, 2015

JY360 said:
They provide nice lighting in a modern home I think, but the wattage is ridiculous. They add a good 600W per room to an already power hungry home. Thankfully the recent LED alternatives are a truly viable option at just 5W per lamp.

Thank you for the replies, I'll be sure to replace them as soon as I can. There are still loads of tiny pieces of broken glass planted in the furniture and I could do without that.

Pay for quality LED GU10's,or consider changing the entire fittings for integrated LED's from a reputable manufacturer. You'll regret buying cheap.