One lamp bulb blows the other doesnt

[tom_cairns]

Sorry about the confusion as well - I did mean the main socket in the wall.

 

[tom_cairns]

Philips 42W ES Halogen Classic Bulb, Clear was the original bulbs I bought from John Lewis - they have since been replaced by ones bought at Sainsburys.

 

[big-all]

havent read all the replies and cant see a picture so lots off assumptions here
i personally would swap the bulbs over and if it blows again suspect there a greater buildup off heat or less dragging the heat away

just a thought

 

[333rocky333]

I quessed you use a halogen style lamp, it is not unheard of for temperature to affect bulbs when switched on, could the tall lamp be in a colder part of the room.
If you dont have a Dimmer on the light, have you considered Led lamps, some retro ones look no different from the old Tungsten lamp and will proberly last at least 2 years

 

[tom_cairns]

havent read all the replies and cant see a picture so lots off assumptions here
i personally would swap the bulbs over and if it blows again suspect there a greater buildup off heat or less dragging the heat away

just a thought

And would that be some sort of design fault in the lamp?

Im trying to come up with a solution and I am sure John Lewis will refund me for the lamps as they have already replaced once, but I like them and dont want to if I can avoid it.
Tom

 

[tom_cairns]

I quessed you use a halogen style lamp, it is not unheard of for temperature to affect bulbs when switched on, could the tall lamp be in a colder part of the room.
If you dont have a Dimmer on the light, have you considered Led lamps, some retro ones look no different from the old Tungsten lamp and will proberly last at least 2 years

Might try a LED type and see, thanks
Tom

 

[big-all]

if it is the case then perhaps a lower wattage or an led bulb
typical style/form over function iff it is

 

[333rocky333]

Might try a LED type and see, thanks
Tom

Theres lots of shapes nowadays

https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/...p=es+retro+led+lamp&fr=chrf-yff32&fr2=piv-web

 

[Mikefromlondon]

So they are failing when first being switching On, indicates they are failing due to a sudden thermal shock, as a sudden flow of inrush current at exact time as the peak of sine wave coincides with your switching moment, and possibly with escalated mains voltage all contribute, and chances are that between the two lamps you have struck the switch at that particular moment more often on the taller lamp than on the shorter lamp, so that means you must have also blown your bulbs even on the shorter lamp once in a while (less often than on the taller) and so it is a gamble, so you have been more unlucky with the taller one,

If you really love your light as is, i.e. you like many other people prefer halogen bulbs rather than LED or energy saving lights, there are ways you you could avoid d giving them a thermal shock, ( if one was able to observe the filament during switch on, it can really jolt violently, so to prolong the life of your bulbs is to use a dimmer that ramps up starting to full power, or you can try a manual dimmer switch that may help but you need one that switches off by turning fully anticlockwise and clicks off, not the push button ones, and each time you need to switch on you click on and turn clockwise to full power.

 

[333rocky333]

If you really love your light as is, i.e. you like many other people prefer halogen bulbs rather than LED or energy saving lights, there are ways you you could avoid d giving them a thermal shock, ( if one was able to observe the filament during switch on, it can really jolt violently, so to prolong the life of your bulbs is to use a dimmer that ramps up starting to full power, or you can try a manual dimmer switch that may help but you need one that switches off by turning fully anticlockwise and clicks off, not the push button ones, and each time you need to switch on you click on and turn clockwise to full power.

I would have thought not realy practical for a plug in lamp

 

[Mikefromlondon]

True, it is not readily achievable unless you go out of your way to build or supply a dedicated dimmable power source, if you get a dimmer switch and house it in a suitable insulated box, either free floating (in line) or fixed to the wall near the table lamp socket, you can adapt your table lamp to run off it, where you wire table lamp into it, and the other lead from it into your standard 3 pin socket, have it fuse protected with a 2amp fuse. I don't see any issues with it, if one is well built and all cables gripped to prevent cables being pulled out, protected all around against all risks. But like I said easier to change the bulbs to LED or Low Energy ones, they have much longer life and are not subjected to thermal shocks or electrical spikes.

 

[JohnW2]

True, it is not readily achievable unless you go out of your way to build or supply a dedicated dimmable power source, ....

Quite so, particularly when one does not really have to expend any effort at all (not to mention considerably reduced running costs and longer life {even with dimming}) to change to non-filament lamps!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Mikefromlondon]

It is individual preference John, depends where one is coming from and where he wants to go, options are available for individuals to cater for their individual preferences and needs, lots of people I know hated the Energy saving lights because they took long time to reach full brightness, I replaced all incandescent lamps in my house with energy saving 11watts lamps, (equivalent to 60watts conventional bulb light) believe it or not one of my mate phoned me from a hardware store in central London (For life of me I can't remember the name but is quite famous) and said do I need any energy saving lights, they are selling them at 10p each, no kidding I said yes please get me 100 bulbs for £10.00, I still have many left after giving some away for free!

Recently they changed all our street lights to LED, everyone is complaining how the old lights were warm and diffused, the new ones are very bright and glary, often seems like it is a day break, but I am sure we will get used to it, this new light creates more powerful shadows, and if you look straight into it, can leave a glare in your eyes, I even read someone make a complaint in the local newspaper column, letters to the editor making a serious complain how they can blind you if you looked into them whilst driving and cause an accident. In my view they also have an advantage, if you were monitoring your car overnight against vandalism, this light is ideal as it would reveal good picture during dark hours as the street is now lit like it is a day light!

So yes if OP can change his lamps to some other types, not only he could save running cost, but also unnecessary replacement cost.

 

[tom_cairns]

So unbeknown to me my wife grabbed a bulb from the cupboard (she said 60W and I suspect they were filament) and it went immediately, as did the next one she tried.

You seem to be suggesting it is some kind of thermal shock and that both filament and halogen bulbs are susceptible whereas LED is not? Is that right?

 

[JohnW2]

So unbeknown to me my wife grabbed a bulb from the cupboard (she said 60W and I suspect they were filament) and it went immediately, as did the next one she tried.

Tried them in what?

You seem to be suggesting it is some kind of thermal shock and that both filament and halogen bulbs are susceptible whereas LED is not? Is that right?

Halogen bulbs are (a type of) filament bulb.

Not really 'thermal shock'. The point about any filament lamp/bulb (including halogen) is that the filament has a much lower resistance until it heats up, so the switch-on current is extremely high, albeit just for a fraction of a second. It's that very high switch-on current that makes it so common for a filament bulb (if it's 'getting old and/or close to death') to die immediately on switch-on. The same phenomenon does not happen with LEDs

Kind Regards, John