Thread: Halogen bulbs- I've had a gutful

You got a good ceiling fan or range hood?

When he wired up the ones I installed, our sparkie told us that we must use the range-hood when cooking to make 'em last. It didn't work and we weren't happy, blowing bulbs on a regular basis.

A little bit later, we realised: 'twas the kettle's fault... moving it to where the steam didn't waft up into the lights when we made a cuppa made all the difference.

Originally Posted by mic-d

We have a mains track light with 6 halogens (well 5 actually, but I'm getting to that) in the kitchen and they keep blowing at the moment there are only 2 left. We might get a couple of months out of a bulb. We tried one of those LED replacements that was supposed to last heaps longer than the regular one and cost $14 for a bulb and it lasted about 3 months

We moved over to mains from a 12v system because that one blew 2 transformers, not bulbs, oh no, they were fine.

Apart from going back to fluoro, which might be the best thing, what can we do?

Cheers
Michael

We have 12v lighting through the kitchen area and a few other rooms. It seems to be a never ending job to replace transformers and globes, hot days really seem to knock the stuffing out of them too. Interesting to here of any alternatives, I wish we had never replaced the fluoros we had in the first place.

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

You got a good ceiling fan or range hood?

When he wired up the ones I installed, our sparkie told us that we must use the range-hood when cooking to make 'em last. It didn't work and we weren't happy, blowing bulbs on a regular basis.

A little bit later, we realised: 'twas the kettle's fault... moving it to where the steam didn't waft up into the lights when we made a cuppa made all the difference.

We have a good rangehood, but how does that affect the main lights

Cheers
Michael

My 2 cents worth.
We've had 12V/transformer type lights for about 12-14 yrs.
The original globes are still in the fittings, and still light up.
The transformers are not in the ceiling, but "hidden" on the top of cross ties (large like 50 x 400).
The size of the beams is not relevant, but I think the air-flow around the transformer is.

Here down south steam tends to hang around the ceiling for a while, esp. in Winter. Probably not your problem... I should've checked where you are first.

I've also been told that leaving fingerprints on the bulbs when changing 'em also shortens their lifespan... apparently it develops hot spots. I dunno 'bout that, but I do know that I agree with John; I wish I'd left the original fluoros in!

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Here down south steam tends to hang around the ceiling for a while, esp. in Winter. Probably not your problem... I should've checked where you are first.

I've also been told that leaving fingerprints on the bulbs when changing 'em also shortens their lifespan... apparently it develops hot spots. I dunno 'bout that, but I do know that I agree with John; I wish I'd left the original fluoros in!

ahh it's the steam. We're buggered then, it's always steamy in summer here.


Cheers
Michael

I wonder if your mains voltage is too high

mic-d have you got dimmer switches

recently found out these cause heaps of problems

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

You got a good ceiling fan or range hood?

When he wired up the ones I installed, our sparkie told us that we must use the range-hood when cooking to make 'em last. It didn't work and we weren't happy, blowing bulbs on a regular basis.

A little bit later, we realised: 'twas the kettle's fault... moving it to where the steam didn't waft up into the lights when we made a cuppa made all the difference.

Well that a bit b(&%$^ useless in a kitchen then isn't it. We've got this really ugly flouro fitting that I think must have been scrounged from a school. I was thinking of getting something more "designery". So low voltage halogen not the go then?........

If even your led lights are blowing..... chances are it is:

Overheating casued by no ventilation around them or aggrevated by over voltage


and as said earlier moisture or cooking fumes/residues building up on the halogens but not such a problem for leds.

Cheers,
Chipman

Originally Posted by Chipman

If even your led lights are blowing..... chances are it is:

Overheating casued by no ventilation around them or aggrevated by over voltage


and as said earlier moisture or cooking fumes/residues building up on the halogens but not such a problem for leds.

Cheers,
Chipman

The bulbs sit on a track with nothing around them, so short of putting a fan on them, they can't get much better ventillation.

Originally Posted by echnidna

I wonder if your mains voltage is too high

How can I test this Bob?

Originally Posted by wheelinround

mic-d have you got dimmer switches

recently found out these cause heaps of problems

No dimmers switches wheelin

Thanks for all your replies

Cheers
Michael

Are you near a train line at all? They are really good at giving power dips if the network is not setup correctly.

Originally Posted by Sparhawk

Are you near a train line at all? They are really good at giving power dips if the network is not setup correctly.

Nope

Cheers
Michael

Time to bite the bullet and call a sparky I think Mick!
You can get pretty good fluro down/spot lights now days... some actually outperform halogens