Exploding 40 watt eco halogen MR16 bulb/glass

[Luc]

Our shower has an extractor above it with a light within it. The extractor fan works from a separate cord to the light which is turned on by a separate cord that illuminates five other recessed halogen bulbs. The extractor bulb had gone so I replaced it with what I thought was the equivalent 40 watt eco halogen MR16 purchased from Homebase. About a half an hour later my other half said that some glass had exploded/shattered in the bathroom. On checking it appears the glass covering of the bulb shattered, exposing the bulb which is still illuminating. Is this common? Why did it happen? Have I fitted the wrong bulb wattage? How dangerous is this?

[tabbypurr]

Glass does that occasionally. It's life.

Get yourself a sensible client or portal to this newsgroup, news:uk.d-i-y.

NT

[whisky-dave]

Maybe the in the fan wasnlt stanndard in that it uses a differnt class similar to pyrex that doesn't mind water being splashed on it when hot.. Someone I know experinced a simialr thing in the darkroom when they accdently flicked water on to a lit photoflood bulb, he was lucky not to lose an eye.

[Andrew Gabriel]

It's not unheard of for the inner halogen capsule to shatter - it runs at moderate pressure and the outer bulb should contain the bits. (It's much more common with mains voltage halogens.)

I suspect you had one which had a manufacturing defect. Was it just the front which fell off, or the whole reflector broke?