Lamps blowing!!

[Octopus]

Why did you not use decent ip rated boxes like wiska?

 

[Deleted member 9648]

In my experience it's almost always the lamps,even good quality lamps are unpredictable. Think how much handling and abuse they get from manufacture to finally ending up in a fitting.A low IR will not affect the lamp. If contacts,voltage,switching and weather proofing are OK then it'll be the lamps.

 

[ipf]

In my experience it's almost always the lamps,even good quality lamps are unpredictable. Think how much handling and abuse they get from manufacture to finally ending up in a fitting.A low IR will not affect the lamp. If contacts,voltage,switching and weather proofing are OK then it'll be the lamps.

I'll go with that WP. Common sense.....and a bad batch of lamps doesn't have to be every lamp. May be one in twenty, ten, two....who knows, still a bad batch, even with the best.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Why did you not use decent ip rated boxes like wiska?

I always do Murdoch, this time I got taken in by a cheaper box from screwfix (still not the cheapest though!) with reasonable reviews (I had used it once or twice before and it seemed fine, however with 11 of them it became evident it was poor quality). I have since reviewed the box and also mentioned about it on this forum in a thread I started as I was so disappointed with it.

Still silly though!

 

[trev]

Did a job with a mate of mine a couple of years ago where the customer supplied all materials. Downlights were C E D GU10s. Utter crap, the worst DLs I ever saw. Must have been about a quid a pop.
Anyway, he has tried the same complaint. Somehow it's our fault that he buys crap gear??????
A similar installation done at roughly the same time with JCC with pretty much the same methods hasn't had a single problem

 

[HappyHippyDad]

When you say the connectiopns are good are the contacts in the lampholder nice and shiny?

I got very caught up in the fault finding and geting the IR reading above the required standard that I have not looked at that. I will though.

 

[ipf]

When you say the connectiopns are good are the contacts in the lampholder nice and shiny?

If lamps have blown you should be able to tell from those replaced.

 

[Deleted member 72666]

Thanks Richard,
-The customer did state they had tried 'Phillips' halogen lamps, but I will double check.
-If it is water condensing on the lamp causing the issue, is this because water is condensing on the lamp or the fact it is condensing on a 'poor quality lamp' (I think you'll understand that rather garbled sentence).
-If it was a loose connection then I would expect it to be the same lamp blowing. Plus the connections are good.

Could it not be down to the low (fluctuating) IR results? IR results must have dropped lower at some point as the RCD has tripped once or twice recently, hence calling me in. If there was almost a short between L and E this could have caused too much current to flow through lamp??

Have another rethink on that!

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Have another rethink on that!

I know.. makes no sense.. all the current would be flowing to earth, not through the lamp! just wanted to try and come up with some ideas!!

Poor quality lamps or lamp holders are looking like the contenders.

Thanks everyone for the ideas.

 

[Deleted member 72666]

Are the lamps wall mounted or are they on pillars/posts? Just thinking that it's been rather windy these past few months! Don't rule out a combination of faults either such as contamination on the quartz glass, vibration, poor electrical contact (intermittent), poor quality lamps etc,etc,etc.