Blowing GU10's

I installed a B&Q light fitting for a mate, replacing a pendant lamp holder.

It has 3 x 50w GU10 lamps. Seems to blow 1 every three weeks - never the same one. The GU10s are B&Q own label DI ALL.

Checked the wiring in the light & the switch - all perfect.

Checked the supply voltage, thinking it might be high - 242v.

Any ideas why the lamps keep failing? Cheap lamps?

Reply to
The Medway Handyman
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Vibration?

Reply to
polygonum

I've got the same problem, 4x GU10 in a strip on the ceiling, wiring and voltage fine like yours and they blow regularly. It would be cheaper to light the room by burning £20 notes. I've tried most brands, same result.

Reply to
Mentalguy2k8

Not to directly answer your question, but my voltage averages 250 and peaks at 254, an IKEA 5x50W fitting hasn't blown a single lamp in nearly

7 years ...
Reply to
Andy Burns

Hmmm. Possibly, its a ground floor flat.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

I had this, and different lamps solved it. Ikea ones usually last well.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

And I noticed that Ikea have announced

"The future is bright

There?s a lot to love about LED lighting, like 20-year lifespans and how easy they are to recycle. IKEA is going all LED by 2016 ? that means every bulb and every lamp. Find out why we think a bright future starts with LED."

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So better stock up on their GU10s if you want to use them into the future!

Reply to
polygonum

I've been considering switching to LED, actually :-)

Reply to
Chris Bartram

All EU bulbs are rated at 230V so they are operating about 5% over voltage which will reduce their life to about half the quoted value which is probably 1,000 to 2,000 hours. It also makes the bulb more susceptible to vibration failure. One common cause of GU10 failures is short duration voltage peaks, is the house near a substation?

Reply to
Peter Parry

254 is out of spec... We had similar voltages and 40 W incandesant candles had a rather short life. Complained to the DNO, they came, measured agreed and changed a transformer tapping we now average 243 V with peaks to just over 245. Bulbs last very much longer.

And how much use does it get, there are bulbs here that are 13+ years old but they get about 5 mins use every couple of weeks if that...

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

that's about how long they do in fact last IME

10 weeks on average.

install LV and get around 3-7 years.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Yeah, I know, but apart from those GU10's and one other halogen lamp all my other lamps are fluorescent of the devil ...

Varied over the years, sometimes most evenings for most of the evening, sometimes not for a few weeks, I've been suspecting for several years they're overdue to "go" but couldn't put a number of hours on them really, recently the filaments have started to wobble/flicker in response to walking around in the room, presumably they're wearing thin.

Reply to
Andy Burns

Now I didn't know that - thanks.

Ots a ground floor flat, so thats a possibility.

In our last house we had a sub station at the end of the road & got though bulbs like nobody business.

Don't think there is one near my mates - I'll have to check.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Why you fiddling about with incandescents? Get LED ones.

Reply to
Tim Streater

I was under the impression that lamps were one of the few areas where UK suppliers can still sell 240V rated lamps for just this reason.

Reply to
John Rumm

Others have already mentioned voltage, and vibration. Lamp brand also has an effect. I found a batch bought from TLC outperformed some others that I had tried previously for example.

There have been various discussions on this in the past (a particularly good one some years back that got hijacked by one of our US based trolls).

One thing that a number seem to agree on (myself included) is that mains voltage halogens are also intolerant of noisy switching, So it is worthwhile swapping the switch for a new one as a precaution. (or better still using a soft start dimmer to drive them)

For a real fix however, swap them for LV halogen or LED

Reply to
John Rumm

They can, but rarely bother to. 230V bulbs are much cheaper than 240V ones and as they can quite legally be sold with their 230V predicted hours (as the UK is officially 230V even if actually 240V) it makes no sense for suppliers to stock and sell 240V ones. "Bulb, 240V 2,000 hours life £1.50" or "Bulb 230V 2,000 hours life 50p" which do you think will sell best?

Reply to
Peter Parry

I had 8 GU10's in my last house for about 3/4 years before I moved out.

6 of them were on a regular switch and 2 were on a dimmer. The first 6 blew at about the rate you're quoting. We never really used the dimmer, but those 2 never blew the whole time we had them. I sort of presumed it may have dropped the voltage a little bit or maybe smoothed it a fraction.

Whatever the reason, I decided that GU10's we definitely not for me when we moved and have managed to avoid them so far. Now if I could only find a lamp with acceptable output that came on immediately......

Reply to
GMM

I chucked out the 50W halogens supplied with a new 4-spot fitting & used

"Long Life Lamp Company GU10 5 Watt Super Bright LED with New Chip Technology, Warm White 50w replacements" (Amazon)

One tenth of the running costs and just as much light. Even the wife likes them & she's really fussy about lighting.

Reply to
Sam Plusnet

and who is going to make them?

Reply to
charles

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