Outdoor light question

[redstrosekNic]

Hey all,

I'm having issues with a light that I rigged for my garage. I bought a new ballasted compact fluorescent fixture, removed the guts, then installed them in my old Hubbell light fixture. I bypassed the eye, but installed an aftermarket photo eye a week later, as reconnecting the factory eye was problematic. Very bright, worked great for a month. The bulb blew, but I was expecting it not to last long, as I jostled it around during my many trial fittings to get everything situated.

My second bulb only lasted 1 day... Both blown bulbs ended up loose after they blow...is this typical of these bulbs, or am I having other problems? Are there any obvious issues with my install that I am missing?

Sorry if my iPad inverts the pics!






Thanks everybody

[gacook]

A bulb blowing that fast would suggest to me that it's getting too much juice; higher than it's rated for.

[redstrosekNic]

Thanks for the reply! I just can't think of anything I would have done to change the amount of power going to the bulb... The after market eye should just be a switch, so I would think I can rule that out. Everything else (aside from bypassing the factory eye) is as it was in the factory fixture.

[imcarthur]

Probably a bad ballast or the re-wiring of it in your fixture. Does it flicker for a while before it dies?

Ian

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by redstrosekNic

The after market eye should just be a switch, .

maybe not.. any more details?

[Bill Douglas]

Umm, these bulbs also don't like low voltage. I'd put the multimeter on it and see that it is a good clean switch on and off, not a low power then some more power type switching.

Looks fun - good luck.


Edit: You could try a non-energy saver type bulb and look for dimness (low voltage) and see how long that bulb lasts. Ordinary bulbs can take a lot of grief before they blow.

[porsche4life]

But that fixture has a ballast for the flouro bill. Don't want to screw a incandescent in there.

I'm with Ian. When you've got a light doing screwy things it's usually a ballast. Try one more bulb to rule out a bad replacement bulb, but id put money on the ballast.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

But that fixture has a ballast for the flouro

I had to google that.

[porsche4life]

Never seen a light fixture with a ballast? Any flouro other than a CFL which has it built in, will require a ballast. The HO lamps we use in signs usually require several big ballasts.

[Cajundaddy]

CFL bulbs are inductive loads and they work best with nice smooth constant voltage. Make sure your motion sensor or dusk to dawn switch is compatible with CFL lighting. Some of them send a flickering on/off cycle to the fixture every startup or voltage leak which doesn't bother an incandescent much but it will kill a CFL quick. A fully enclosed fixture may also cause the ballast to overheat.

I use a dusk timer light switch with a built-in relay. It comes on at dusk for a pre-determined # of hrs each night. The solid "on" relay is compatible with all lighting fixtures up to 500w.

http://www.electrical101.com/cfl.html

[Bill Douglas]

Ah, I did more google. Our energy saver bulbs look like that but are not actually floro so don't have a ballast so that's why I've never seen them. Our energy saver bulbs use about quarter the power of a regualr bulb, don't work with dimmer switches and screw into a regular light fitting.

[redstrosekNic]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

CFL bulbs are inductive loads and they work best with nice smooth constant voltage. Make sure your motion sensor or dusk to dawn switch is compatible with CFL lighting. Some of them send a flickering on/off cycle to the fixture every startup or voltage leak which doesn't bother an incandescent much but it will kill a CFL quick. A fully enclosed fixture may also cause the ballast to overheat.

I use a dusk timer light switch with a built-in relay. It comes on at dusk for a pre-determined # of hrs each night. The solid "on" relay is compatible with all lighting fixtures up to 500w.

Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) - Electrical 101

The eye says its fine for my type of light. I've seen it turn on, and the bulb does not flicker or anything...just a bit dimmer until it warms up fully.

[redstrosekNic]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

But that fixture has a ballast for the flouro bill. Don't want to screw a incandescent in there.

I'm with Ian. When you've got a light doing screwy things it's usually a ballast. Try one more bulb to rule out a bad replacement bulb, but id put money on the ballast.

Yeah, I'll try another bulb to rule it out. The bulb is a clip-in socket, so there are no threads or anything.

[redstrosekNic]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

Probably a bad ballast or the re-wiring of it in your fixture. Does it flicker for a while before it dies?

Ian

I did not have to re-wire anything with the wires running from the ballast to the socket...just fed the existing feed wires in the lamp to the power source. I've not seen it die, but is turns on cleanly.

[J P Stein]

I have noticed that these "out door lights" don't do well out in the weather.
I've had them puke quickly when exposed to wind & rain, but others go on forever when protected from same. The last install in an exposed area got a protective lash-up & has been going for a couple years.

[redstrosekNic]

Originally Posted by J P Stein

I have noticed that these "out door lights" don't do well out in the weather.
I've had them puke quickly when exposed to wind & rain, but others go on forever when protected from same. The last install in an exposed area got a protective lash-up & has been going for a couple years.

The glass globe has a nice seal to keep the weather out, so that should not be an issue. I wish the original Hubbell ballast was with the fixture... It would probably not be having these issues!

[J P Stein]

Originally Posted by redstrosekNic

The glass globe has a nice seal to keep the weather out, so that should not be an issue. I wish the original Hubbell ballast was with the fixture... It would probably not be having these issues!

The seal is standard fare for those that puked also.......dono what exactly is the killer.....somethng in the housing, I suspect.

[imcarthur]

Check the contacts in the socket to make sure they are contacting the bulb's contacts. Is the fixture grounded? Some fluorescents like grounding. Outside of that, it has to be a bad ballast. It 'fires' the gases in the bulb which illuminate the phosphors. If the current supplied by the ballast isn't stable, it will burn bulbs prematurely.

Ian

[javadog]

Could be a temperature problem. Have a look at your ambient temperatures and see if you are using suitable electrical bits. Some flourescent lights are not happy in cold environments.

If you want a real outdoor light, buy one intended for that purpose. It won't be flourescent...

JR

[J P Stein]

I also have a Mercury Vapor (?) light on the front of the house with a Southern exposure.....the direction the heavy weather comes from. It pumps out a lot of light......lights up my dark street. It too has a ambient light sensor. I save the original box & 1 year warranty. I've gotten 2-3 new ones for those that puked.
There's something in the sensor circuitry that is sensitive to moisture, me thinks. No flckering/fading, just stops working.