I've just had a (mains) GU10 shatter into nice sharp shards all over the floor, rather impressive spread given the small amout of glass involved...
I was under the impression that these bulbs weren't meant to do this... Should I be worried any others might follow suite? (These are branded, not no-names) Just concerned for ours and the cats feet ;)
Lee
Generally they should not do this. However, make sure you don't touch the glass when installing the new bulbs (wear gloves or install them using the box etc). Leaving finger print oil on the glass may increase the risk of explosion.
Surely in this type of bulb the outer envelope that you touch is quite separate from the quartz glass envelope of the bulb itself. So it
*isn't* necessary to avoid touching the bulb as it is with the linear quartz glass bulbs in spotlights where you can touch the actual quartz glass.
You didn't buy them from Poundland did you? I bought some filament bulbs from it a while back and they exploded after a while. Trouble was I couldn't remember which was which, so it was just a question of waiting. Interesting time (in the Chinese sense).
Peter Scott
That can happen when the bulb has no integral fuse, which means it can flash-over as an unbalasted discharge lamp when the filament breaks, with the current being limited by the supply impedance, and the rapid expansion of the gas fill causing it to explode.
Ordinary mains bulbs are required to be internally fused. In some other countries, this isn't mandated, and occasionally stock gets here without internal fusing, but it's rare.
Halogens are a different matter. Many halogen lamps simply have nowhere to include a fuse within the bulb. These are handled by having a secondary shield, either an outer glass bulb which should contain the quartz shattering, or a fitting with similar a shield. Halogens run at a higher pressure inside anyway, and this reduces the chance of flash-over. However, if it does happen, it generates a higher pressure in the quartz bulb.
My input would be to switch over from the 240v driven GU10's to the equivalent using a 12v transformer. All GU10's I ever used had a very high failure rate - the 12v one's never give me any bother, which is suspect is due to the some sort of surge suppression when they are switched on. Rob
Aye, you don't want to be near a halogen when it goes pop or rather *BANG* showering the enviroment with glowing red glass.
If you read the instructions supplied with most of them, it still applies. The ones with the outer glass envelope (like GU10s) are supposed to contain the explosion (should it occur), but you can still get some softening of the outer glass from contamination.
(The linear halogen jobbies are much worse in this respect though)
Thus spake Rob G ( snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com) unto the assembled multitudes:
I replaced all my GU10 240v halogens with the GU10 CFLs. Not the same light output but only 7w each, so my hallway fitting (5 bulbs) now uses only 35w instead of 250w. Not cheap to buy though :-{
Well I tried very hard with the first few I used and I could see no trace of any information on them indicating that one shouldn't touch the outside.
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DIY store bought, branded, and were individually boxed in UK packaging - not that that means anything, I suspect ;)
To update, since posting I have been ordered by SWMBO that the fitting and bulbs is to be changed ASAP for "something safer", or else ;)
I didn't inquire to the "else", it seemed wise not to, she was not happy...
Lee
That's the whole point of 'else'. Certainty about revenge but uncertainty about when or what.
Peter Scott
That's a long-standing mystery solved. Thanks. I expect that they got a cheap job lot from a dubious source.
Peter Scott
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