One-day light bulbs?

[Monkeyleg]

Ok, ok, I know this is trivial. But I've never run into this situation before in my 50+ years of changing lightbulbs.

The other night, the bulb in the fixture over the kitchen sink went out when I flipped on the wall switch.

Replace bulb. Everything is fine.

Next evening, come home, flip wall switch, and bulb burns out. Replace bulb.

Tonight, come home, flip wall switch, bulb burns out.

Just a bad box of bulbs, or is there something about household electrical that I haven't learned in decades of wiring fixtures?

[Perd Hapley]

That probably means the black helicopters are close by.  You can shield the fixture with foil, or you can use it as a black-helicopter-detector.


Oh, yeah, I just posted an electrical question.  Do you know where to find residential wiring info and diagrams on the web?

Thanks.

[Desertdog]

Have you bought different bulbs yet and tried them?  If a new set of bulbs burn out also I would check the voltage spike when you turn the light on.

Not the same type system, but my son had a jeep that kept burning out all of his bulbs at one time.  Hooked a volt meter to his system and when he reved up his engine, we  got a 300 volt reading.   Rewired his altanator connections.

[Monkeyleg]

Fistful, what I know about wiring I learned from my father and from my late father-in-law. I don't know diagrams, but I've run a lot of wire, conduit and BX in my time. Never had a problem, but sorry I can't help you with yours.

Desertdog, all three bulbs were from the same package. I'm suspecting the package was part of a defective batch.

Just to be sure, I've put in a bulb of a different wattage that we've had in the storage closet for months.

Again, just to be clear, when I put the new bulbs in and hit the switch, everything was fine. It was only the next day, when flipping the switch to "on," that the bulbs burned out.

There are a lot of things plugged into that circuit, most more fragile than a tungsten filament. I'd imagine a voltage surge would knock out any circuit board in an appliance before it would a 60-watt filament.

And, as long as I'm posting about this, am I the only one who thinks that the quality of light bulbs has gone downhill? Sorry if this seems trivial, but the threads on the bulbs now seem so coarse that it requires extra agility to get them screwed in.

Tomorrow's exciting thread: "Is toilet paper of lesser quality than years ago, or am I just eating too much pizza?"

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

Dick,
I've taken to purchasing these little fluorescent bulbs and replacing all of the incandescents in my house (with a couple of exceptions) with them.

Thirty bucks for a dozen *is* kind of steep, I know, but in theory they are supposed to last a great deal longer and use a great deal less electricity, so maybe it's a good move.  Time will tell.

[BryanP]

Thirty bucks for a dozen compact flourescents isnt' bad at all.  It wasn't that many years ago I was paying $15 apiece for them.

Over time I've been putting them anywhere I can get away with it in my house.   Especially ones that are a PITA to get to and replace.  "Get the ladder."

[Bogie]

My entire house, except for dimmer circuits, is compact fluorescent.
 
I have one bulb unit in a lamp that I've had since around 1975. It still fleepin' works!

[Sindawe]

My entire house, except for dimmer circuits, is compact fluorescent.

Same here, and the exception of two halogen funeral home type lamps I've had for years.

Bonus for the CF lights.  Since they take a few minutes to warm up and come to full brightness, they are GREAT in bathrooms when one awakens before dawn.  Nice gentle glow rather than the nuclear blast of light that incandescents give off.

[ilbob]

Ok, ok, I know this is trivial. But I've never run into this situation before in my 50+ years of changing lightbulbs.

The other night, the bulb in the fixture over the kitchen sink went out when I flipped on the wall switch.

Replace bulb. Everything is fine.

Next evening, come home, flip wall switch, and bulb burns out. Replace bulb.

Tonight, come home, flip wall switch, bulb burns out.

Just a bad box of bulbs, or is there something about household electrical that I haven't learned in decades of wiring fixtures?

Could be all kinds of things. bad batch of bulbs is one. An open neutral at your service point is another. I'd try it with another bulb. If it blows or burns unusually brightly, I'd look elsewhere. Start by measuring the voltage. If one line is ten volts or more higher then the other, get a real electrician to come fix it.

[Brad Johnson]

And, as long as I'm posting about this, am I the only one who thinks that the quality of light bulbs has gone downhill?

You can still get good bulbs, but most places don't carry them. Instead they carry the more profitable knock-offs.

Brad

[Lo.Com.Denom]

Did you know that Hiram Maxim used to make lightbulbs? I didn't. There's a (modern, obviously) Maxim bulb, shining down on me right now, in fact and according to the back of the box, they first started making his lightbulbs in 1879. I'm feeling all Victorian and inventive just thinking about it...

And if anyone here doesn't know who Hiram Maxim was, say twenty Male Hairies and beat yourself with an ammo belt, immediately!

[wmenorr67]

Yes toilet paper is of lesser quality and you eat too much pizza!=)

[crt360]

I think the same people somewhere in China are making incandescant bulbs and toilet paper and they don't do either very well.  It can be bad when both products fail at the same time.

I just started using the compact fluorescent bulbs a few months ago and I like them.  I was surprised because I generally hate fluorescent lights.  I mean I really hate them.  A lifetime of buzzing, flickering, too damn bright light that is a complete pain in the ass to change bulbs for - the covers crack, the bulb holders break, then eventually the ballast goes out.  But these new little things are alright.  No buzzing, no flickering, not too bright, fit regular sockets, and are easy to change.  Compared to the incandescant they have the same light output at much lower wattage and run way cooler.  They're getting a lot cheaper, too.

[AJ Dual]

Dick, if the lightbulbs keep going out on you, I'd do a bit of snooping to find out if the construction on your street has disturbed any indian burial grounds.

And I'd make sure to unplug the TV's at night...

[lee n. field]

Cheap Hungarian made incandescent bulbs.

Me, I'd check the voltage.

[CatsDieNow]

The lights in my house did that sometimes.  I am fairly certain it's voltage spikes.  I measure both +/- 10 volts over the course of the day.  The cheaper bulbs were less tolerant of that, I guess, and once I switched to better bulbs it happens much more infrequently now.

Going to get an electrician out soon to fix the problem rather than band-aid it, of course.