Halogens

[imageautodetail]

I have a dual head dual bulb "commercial electric" tripod that I bought at Home Depot a couple years ago while rehabbing my house, I have had it on for about 80 hours a week for a year and still the original bulbs, I will see if they still have it and post a link

[KnuckleBuckett]

When you purchase the lights, open the lenses, remove the bulbs, and IPA the entire inside with a no lint cloth. This includes the electrical contact points and the bulbs. Install the bulbs. Let it dry and air out before use. Do not use bare hands to do this work. Do this with powder free IPA wiped nitrile or latex gloves. These lights fail due to hot spots. Most hot spots are due to contaminants that are wiped onto (skin oil) or falling onto the bulbs (dust). Keep them properly sealed and expose them to as little vibration as possible. Repeat process when changing bulbs.

*>NOTE NEVER DO THIS WITH POWER APPLIED!!!<*

[D&D Auto Detail]

Thanks, Ill try the IPA.

[pt91]

Originally Posted by boogiejoe

I installed track lighting in my garage. It makes it real easy to get any kind of light that I need. I have halogens, incandescents, flourescents and LEDs all running at the same time. It provides a lot of light, and shows imperfections pretty nicely.

It could be that your halogens are getting dust on them causing hot spots and burning the bulbs out.

any pics of this? i am building a new garage this year.

[Jakerooni]

I'm lucky if my halogens last more than one sitting. I think I've put an easy dozen or so bulbs in it since I bought it a few months ago. Just a cheapy from HF though... Gonna have to step up to some better stuff here soon.

[iamwiz82]

Wrong thread

[jsatek]

Originally Posted by KnuckleBuckett

When you purchase the lights, open the lenses, remove the bulbs, and IPA the entire inside with a no lint cloth. This includes the electrical contact points and the bulbs. Install the bulbs. Let it dry and air out before use. Do not use bare hands to do this work. Do this with powder free IPA wiped nitrile or latex gloves. These lights fail due to hot spots. Most hot spots are due to contaminants that are wiped onto (skin oil) or falling onto the bulbs (dust). Keep them properly sealed and expose them to as little vibration as possible. Repeat process when changing bulbs.

*>NOTE NEVER DO THIS WITH POWER APPLIED!!!<*

Very Autopian procedure. But you forgot to add this:

Only open the lamp in a downdraft spray booth heated to a maximum of 76 degrees farenheit with no less then 35% humitidty to prevent static electricity build up. Be sure the booths filters have been freshly changed to prevent any possibility of debris from entering the open lamp fixture.

I never touch a bulb with my bare hands. But doesnt a 500 watt halogen bulb run about $2.50? Just dont tough it with your oily fingers!

[mporreca01]

When I bought my halogen light the guy at the store told me to put a dab of vaseline on the contacts before inserting the bulb. He said it helps with performance of the light and bulb life. Also make sure you don't touch the bulb with your hand as this is death for the bulb.

[PedroDaGr8]

yeah halogens are super fickly to oil and dust. In case you ever wondered here's why:

Halogens are under higher pressure and contain trace amounts typically of iodine which allows for redeposition of the tungsten back on the fillament. This allows them to be run at a higher temperature with out risk of premature failure. Because of this higher temperature and pressure, the glass on halogen bulbs is not the same as the glass on your incandescent bulbs. The higher temperature and the different glass are what cause the problem. When you touch the glass with your hands you deposit trance amount of oils on the glass. Now while off this is not a problem, but when turned on and up to operating temperatures these oils get baked INTO the glass, which weakens the glass. The same thing happens with dust. I have seen on some automotive headlight bulbs (where the filament is close to the glass) the glass actually bubble. In other cases the glass gets so weak the bulb decides that it is happier inside out and *pop* there it goes.

[TortoiseAWD]

Originally Posted by KnuckleBuckett

When you purchase the lights, open the lenses, remove the bulbs, and IPA the entire inside with a no lint cloth. This includes the electrical contact points and the bulbs. Install the bulbs. Let it dry and air out before use. Do not use bare hands to do this work. Do this with powder free IPA wiped nitrile or latex gloves. These lights fail due to hot spots. Most hot spots are due to contaminants that are wiped onto (skin oil) or falling onto the bulbs (dust). Keep them properly sealed and expose them to as little vibration as possible. Repeat process when changing bulbs.

To sum up . . .



"Didn't anyone ever tell you
to make sure your optics
are clean?"



Tort

[95supra]

I have a dual 250watt halogen lamp. meaning each bulb is 250 watts. Those give good enough light for me.

[Mindflux]

Originally Posted by Jakerooni

I'm lucky if my halogens last more than one sitting. I think I've put an easy dozen or so bulbs in it since I bought it a few months ago. Just a cheapy from HF though... Gonna have to step up to some better stuff here soon.

There's a recall on these. See your HF for details.