is this normal exploding lightbulb

keystone

the_r_sole wrote: »

i've had this a couple of times and it is just the bulb,

Thats not necessarily the case with ELV lighting. Sometimes the chockblock that is almost invariably used to connect the lamp to its transformer gets overheated and melts with the consequence that it goes bang when volts are applied. The lamp going bang is a symptom not the cause in such a case and this is one reason why I have suggested the OP gets electrics checked.

... it only seemed to happen on the low voltage b&q ones i had in the kitchen, the ones in my bathroom have never exploded...

and that could well be due to a lack of air circulation in the restricted space above the kitchen resulting in heat buildup. If the connections for the ELVs in the bathroom are in the roofspace there is plenty of air to dissipate the heat so the problem does not generally arise.

Cheers

julie03

thanks for the imput , will let you know the outcome

rrf494g

the different problems have different causes . . .

exploding lightbulbs are faulty manufacture or faulty fitting (getting finger smears on them). The fact that two blew could be due to both being from the same manufacturing batch or (more likely) both being fitted wrongly.

If the new lightbulb (when correctly fitted) works fine, then there is no Low voltage supply problem. If a new lightbulb does not work then there is something to fix.

The "upstairs" bulbs that only last two weeks are poor bulbs (there are some appalling "cheap" bulbs imported and sold thro' backstreet shops). If the upstairs bulbs are simple 240 v bulbs then how does the electricity supply cause a problem? It is either there or not there.

One faulty iron is caused by the iron being faulty! The new iron is ok, so where's the problem?

I'm all for safety - but blaming landlords for cheap bulbs and faulty irons seems to miss the point.

keystone

rrf494g wrote: »

.......but blaming landlords for cheap bulbs and faulty irons seems to miss the point.

Noone is blaming the landlord at all but it is his responsbility if there is a fault. Wth respect you also miss the point. Neither you not I can definitely say it has to be cheap bulbs. The OPs input points to at least one fault in the electrics which common sense says needs investigating. I have indicated a situation where ELV lighting can generate a fault that manifests itself in failing lamps. Just keep replacing dead lamps is treating the symptom not the cause.

So we await the result of the sparky's visit.

Cheers

baldelectrician

The cheap lamps have cheap cement holding the glass to the base

Mains GU10 have a high failure rate unless you use branded lamps, such as Osram, Philips, Sylvania etc

The iron fault is usually a steam iron leaking water in to the electrics (possibly as a result of being dropped)

bigstevex

I agree with the above, there's no fault, the only fault is cheap gu10 bulbs! We've had the same happen, I generally buy dearer bulbs now, no issues since then... :beer:

Sye_2

bigstevex wrote: »

I agree with the above, there's no fault, the only fault is cheap gu10 bulbs! We've had the same happen, I generally buy dearer bulbs now, no issues since then... :beer:

I suspect that this is the right answer. Nearly all branded halogen lamps manufactured today are fused and will not explode.

I sell thousands of these every month and I have not had a single report of an exploding lamp.

Cheep imported tat is not fused and will explode due to poor manufacturing techniques.

As always you get what you pay for.