Hi, Thanks for the help. The opener uses two bulbs and doesn't seem to matter what time of year and both go (although not at the same time). I might try a rough service bulb or a remote lamp as described in an earlier post.
The Wobulator
*Please REMOVE the obvious for my correct email address*
It is the vibration that kills them.
about 20F they take a while to warm up!
Wayne
Screw in type Compact Flourescents don't use a filament per se. These are being phased in more and more as a Vibration Resistant bulb.
-c
Why didn't you go to Sears for the rough service bulbs? They're still fairly cheap for them, even after having doubled their prices, and their bulbs have more filament supports than most such bulbs.
Auto parts stores also sell rough service bulbs, which are used in handheld drop lights.
Maybe your problem isn't vibration but high voltage causing the bulbs to overheat. There are bulbs rated for 130VAC to solve this, and if you can't find the rough service type get an adapter that converts a lightbulb socket into a normal household socket so you can plug in a light fixture hanging a few feet from the opener.
Actually it is usually poor contact w/ the bulb. The metal tab at the bottom of the socket tends to flatten out & separate slightly from the bulb which causes arcing between the contact & the bulb. Bend the tab upward (unit unplugged of course)& clean the contact tab if necessary & the cheapest bulbs you can find will work just fine.
Doordoc
According to wayne :
Darn. Here I was thinking you'd found a brand of CF that worked when it was really cold. Starting about now, we consider 20F to be a heat wave ;-)
A brand new garage door opener, and the 2 pack of "garage door opener" bulbs, lasted a month. The first rough service bulb is still going strong 6 months later.
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