Question For an Electrician

[Tinman]

Hey guys, i have a question for and electrician. This is a little out of my heating experience lol, I am blowing light bulbs at the rate of 5 or so a week in different sockets around the house. I have made sure that they are not over the limit for the wattage and have even started to switch to flourescents, any ideas?

 

Thanks

Denis

[cheaptackle]

I'm not a licensed electrican but do have some background in it. Sounds like loose connections to me. Ever tightened up all the terminals (breaker, commons & grounds) screws at your main panel? Especially on older homes this will help a lot. What else is on the circuit? Are all the lights on the same circuit?

 

Michael

[irishfield]

House built with silent beam floors? Vibration... try a couple work bulbs in the lamps that keep blowing bulbs.

 

Are you end of the line.. voltage surge. I have to put 130V bulbs in our outside lights or they're toast in less than a month with us being the last place on the concession road. Our voltage is regularily 121 volts with surges to 135.

[Whopper]

Good answer Wayne

 

Yesterday I couldn't even spell electrician now I are one

[Tinman]

not the end of the line for sure, we are in the centre of a large older subdivision. Its is an older house that was converted about 5 years ago from fuses to a breaker panel,

[vance]

I know from experience that this sure sounds like loose connections mainly at the fuse panel-ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE ALUMINUM WIRING.I had a similar problem and finally and had to change all the receptacles and switches in the house to cure it.If I were you I would get an electrician in to check things out,you have no idea the STUPID things that previous owners can do.

 

vance

[Whitespinnerbait]

Loose connections x 3

[cheaptackle]

not the end of the line for sure, we are in the centre of a large older subdivision. Its is an older house that was converted about 5 years ago from fuses to a breaker panel,

How old Tinman? Is there ground wires? You might want to kill a breaker & pull out an outlet to see for yourself that there are ground wires coming into the box, not that the outlet is just grounded to the box.

If the conversion was done 5 years ago it would be about the right time to tighten all connections. IF you do have aluminum make sure all your devices are either al or cu/al rated (it'll be printed on the switches & outlets body). I'd be surprised, though, if you had aluminum simply because if the panel was upgraded the wiring should have been as well. I'd be equally surprised for the same reason if you still had old style ungrounded romex wire. I thought Wayne had nailed it for you with the voltage fluctuations until you responded. Let us know what you find.

 

Michael

[gdelongchamp]

Did you buy your lightbulbs from Walmart? Are the bulbs you are using to replace the existing bulbs all from the same maker? or the samer package? Check the electrical foot contact on the bulb itself, if it is very flat then it is not contatcting the end of the socket adequately when screwed in which resulsts in arcing and accelerated life of the bulb. This is a common problem with Walmart bulbs. Start with this before you call out an electrician. Particularly if you have not always been having this problem.

[gdelongchamp]

In addition to my last posting, check the tab inside of the socket, somtimes it has been pushed back and does not make proper contact with the electric foot contact on the bulb. You can pull it back a bit using needle nose pliers but make sure the power is off.

[Tinman]

the wiring definately has been replaced, THe bulbs i originally bought were slvania's. Light tonite, turned on the front hall light both bulbs in the the fixture blew, all the fixtures in the house were replaced before we moved in as well. I am going to start pulling them apart to take a peek

[irishfield]

Get your digital meter out and stick it in a recepticle! How many volts...

Edited March 19, 2010 by irishfield

[Tinman]

Get your digital meter out and stick it in a recepticle! How many volts...

Been a little shy of electricity as of late, got a great big shock last week on a commercial roof top lol

[gdelongchamp]

You can try bulbs from a different maker before doing anything else. Opening up the fixtures will most likely not reveal any problem. Your next step would be to check the voltage and the current in the circuits. Are you having any problems with your wall receptacles or appliances throughout the house? For ease of mind I would get an electrician in. In the meantime make sure all of your smoke detectors are working properly. Let us know the results ok>

[irishfield]

Been a little shy of electricity as of late, got a great big shock last week on a commercial roof top lol

 

 

I've been dead twice.. once from 600 in grade 12 electicity (when my partner turned the panel back on after the teacher had turned it off) and once from 3600 in a damp glass plant (when the feed buss filled with ice and shorted out to the frame work and we were turning the power back on after a Christmas shut down) ... hell I can lick 110 ..it won't hurt you! lol

Edited March 19, 2010 by irishfield

[HTHM]

I've been dead twice.. once from 600 in grade 12 electicity (when my partner turned the panel back on after the teacher had turned it off) and once from 3600 in a damp glass plant (when the feed buss filled with ice and shorted out to the frame work and we were turning the power back on after a Christmas shut down) ... hell I can lick 110 ..it won't hurt you! lol

Go ahead and lick 110 with your feet in water or well grounded. Its not volts that kill you it is amps!

[irishfield]

Go ahead and lick 110 with your feet in water or well grounded. Its not volts that kill you it is amps!

 

Na it's all relative Albert! AC cycles thru zero at least... it's DC you really have to give thought to. We call it Dead Current for a reason..

 

I'm hoping tinman grabs his meter... I bet he has high voltage in the house and the other thought, first floor ceiling.. kids running around up stairs in bedrooms??

[HTHM]

As well, if you do have alum wiring, i would suggest treaqting all connections with NO-Lux it is anti-oxidizing agent that will preserve the wire connection's integrity. There is nothing wrong with alum wiring as a conductor, (Hydro uses it for primarys), just the terminations are the problem.

Just my opinion, I have no certificates just some training at college.

[irishfield]

Another thought... did an industrial electrician rewire your house?? They are so use to keeping neutral and ground seperate downstream from the main switch gear that they have a habit of doing it in homes as well. If neutral isn't grounded in the panel properly and out to your ground rod... you could have an unbalanced centre tap for neutral causing higher voltage than you should get at a plug/fixture.

Edited March 19, 2010 by irishfield

[dannyboy]

Floating ground, check the voltage at the outlets.

 

Dan

[Tinman]

I've been dead twice.. once from 600 in grade 12 electicity (when my partner turned the panel back on after the teacher had turned it off) and once from 3600 in a damp glass plant (when the feed buss filled with ice and shorted out to the frame work and we were turning the power back on after a Christmas shut down) ... hell I can lick 110 ..it won't hurt you! lol

 

 

It was a 2 phase a/c so 220 first time it happend lots of noise and light and a little pain, was bruise on my shoulder from where i grounded out against the unit.

 

I'll definately check the voltage in the lights before ripping them apart.

[Guest gbfisher]

220 single phase double pole...... not 2 phase. Love home electricians.

 

 

Sounds like you may indeed have a loose neutral wire at the panel or even at the pole outside. You may need an electrician or even Hydro to come and have a look. Check the voltage like most have said and see for yourself.

[Jer]

220 single phase double pole...... not 2 phase. Love home electricians.

 

 

Sounds like you may indeed have a loose neutral wire at the panel or even at the pole outside. You may need an electrician or even Hydro to come and have a look. Check the voltage like most have said and see for yourself.

 

 

You should have 0V from the neutral side of the circuit to ground (any ground, including any copper plumbing and metal fixtures) and 110 - 120V from the hot side to both the neutral and the ground.

[dave524]

They used to market light bulbs for rural locations that handle higher line voltages. Power company typically has higher voltages on the lines in rural areas due to line loss between widely spaced customers. Might help if everything else checks out.

[Tinman]

220 single phase double pole...... not 2 phase. Love home electricians.

 

 

Sounds like you may indeed have a loose neutral wire at the panel or even at the pole outside. You may need an electrician or even Hydro to come and have a look. Check the voltage like most have said and see for yourself.

 

 

Actually not a home electrician, but ok lol