Light bulbs regularly blowing

[dmcturk]

Evening all, got a customer who is complaining that her light bulbs across the house keep blowing, and could I come and have a look at it. Short of stripping the circuit down and testing it, ensuring all connections are tight etc, can anyone suggest what might be the problem. She did tell me that she had been buying the bulbs from Wilko's, so I suggested buying some from a more reputable brand and see how they go.

Any thoughts?
Thanks

 

[telectrix]

more fun to fit 12V bulbs and watch them explode

 

[Rockingit]

1) Over-voltage / spikes on cheaper lamps
2) Loose conductor causing spikes (prob neutral)
3) Cheap lamps, full stop
4) Maths and the law of averages - as in, if I have one lamp in a room it's going to fail 1 in H hours but if I have eight lamps in a room then my 'apparent' failure rate is 1 in H/8, so a much bigger chance of finding a lamp out at any instance in time (although it's not the same lamp, but Mrs Jones rarely remembers that!)

If it's consistently the same fitting then you've got a loose connection (remember to check at the switch as well!)

 

[telectrix]

replace with LED. saves money as well as lasting a coon's age.

 

[MDJ]

My experience with blowing lamps is as rockingit mentioned, but to add sometimes the lamp holder on the ceiling roses actually widen and the heat on the bayonet makes the lamp move about and short out the lamp

 

[Lucien Nunes]

2) Loose conductor causing spikes (prob neutral)

Why neutral especially? I can understand our American contributors finding this a more likely cause, with domestic split phase supplies where a neutral loss in the DB can cause 240V to appear across 120V circuits. But in an SP+N situation, I'm curious about the mechanism that would make a difference between L & N. Or do you mean they are more often found in the N, for some non-electrical reason?

I've also realised the OP doesn't say what kind of bulbalamps are blowing, whether they are tungsten, halogen, CFL...

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Re lamps/bulbs,

I read another thread about it once and someone said that what do most normal people call them.


bulbs.

I'm over the lamp luminaire thing......

 

[telectrix]

agreed. swan and edison did not invent the light lamp.

 

[puddy]

We grow bulbs in Lincolnshire

 

[R G]

We grow bulbs in Lincolnshire

What size ? 60 or 100 Watt

 

[Rockingit]

Why neutral especially?

No technical issue that I know of, just that in my experience it always seems to be neutrals that come out of screw terminals for come reason.