What caused this?

[Glyn1959]

I was working in a kitchen taking quarry tiles of a floor. I had the light on all day. I sensed a burning smell and thought it was one of my power tools. However, as the light seemed to have dimmed I looked up and saw this!

Untitled

• Glyn1959
• 6 Nov 2013
• 1

The bulb still worked (the light was dimmer due to the mass melted over it). All parts of the holder/wiring were all in tact. It did not trip. A new (clean) bulb is working too.
Any ideas what caused this??

 

[stillp]

Have a look at the light fitting and see what's melted.

 

[jj4091]

Looks like someones been making a meringue & it's flown up off the mixer & landed on the lamp.

 

[securespark]

I was just about to say, the recipe for baked Alaska has ice cream in the middle....

 

[undistilled]

Definitely ectoplasm

 

[Chri5]

Bulb wattage (and thus heat) too large for the shade / fitting?

 

[stillp]

Intumescent seal around/in the fitting?

 

[vsynth]

Bulb wattage (and thus heat) too large for the shade / fitting?

Most likely, it's the white plastic cowl around the socket that's melted.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Most likely, it's the white plastic cowl around the socket that's melted.

H.O. skirt, you mean?

 

[Nozzle]

That's crazy, that plastic is supposed to be a thermo-set rather than a thermo-plastic! (that is to say, a plastic that won't melt/bend but goes straight into burning).

Nozzle

 

[Robin0577]

That's crazy, that plastic is supposed to be a thermo-set rather than a thermo-plastic! (that is to say, a plastic that won't melt/bend but goes straight into burning).

Nozzle

Perhaps you've hit the nail on the head with "supposed to be". Could we be seeing the results of using a fake (as in non-BS) lampholder?

 

[securespark]

Most likely, it's the white plastic cowl around the socket that's melted.

H.O. skirt, you mean?

That takes me back to the 15th Ed.......

 

[ricicle]

It takes me back to crawling around under the desks in government buildings.....

 

[Taylortwocities]

I was an apprentice telephone engineer when I left school.

At one stage I spent a while at a large group switching centre in Esher, Surrey.

On the first floor was a big manual switchboard with probably 40 or so all female operators. The best job was changing the jacks and jack cords when the wore out. Each cord had a counterbalance weight under the switchboard. To get to this one had to crawl around among a sea of loverly ankles…

Oh, Matron!

 

[securespark]

Never mind the ankles. What were the higher-up bits like?

I know, trust me to lower the tone.

A telephone engineers' joke there....