SHort life of G10 and Mains Downlights

[Hysteresis]

Thanks Flameport, that has helped a lot.
I have got to say that I have purchased GU10's previously but without the knowledge of 'Cool Beam' and 'Cool Fit', and I have to say I have never seen any reference to the terms or indeed PAR before.
Armed with this new found knowledge, I will check out the market.
The Screfix link you supplied also did not refer to the very important difference in these lamps.
How can one be sure when buying that you get the Cool Fit variety?
The one customer review of the Screfix GU10 lamps ironically refers to the 'Short Life' he has experienced with these bulbs which maybe suggests they are of the 'Cool Beam' Variety.
Manufacturers should really be a litle more open in the specification of what they are selliig.
Have you any other leads for the purchase of Cool Fit lamps as I think this may be the solution to my problem.
I am in for some fun at my next visit to B&Q when I quiz the electrical 'expert' they have available.

 

[Click-Sure]

I am in for some fun at my next visit to B&Q when I quiz the electrical 'expert' they have available.

 

[flameport]

Manufacturers of lamps provide detailed information about them, so if those Screwfix ones are actually Sylvania HiSpot then they will have aluminium (PAR) reflectors.
Unfortunately, many retailers have little or no knowledge about the products they are selling, which is how they get wrongly described on websites and people end up buying the wrong item.

Originally, all GU10 lamps were aluminium. The dichroic ones had a GZ10 cap which looks similar but won't physically fit into a GU10 holder. This prevented people from installing the wrong kind of lamp.
Unfortunately, certain useless manufacturers then started making dichroics with GU10 caps, which completely defeated the whole point of the two different types.

Another thing to check is that the lamps you are buying are 240v types. The same lamps made for sale in Europe will be 230v and using those here will drastically shorten their lifespan.

 

[Hysteresis]

HI Flameport,
That is useful information, thanks.
Of course the problem for me is that I don't have your knowledge and experience in that I would not be aware the those Screwfix lamps being Sylvania Hi Spot were in fact PAR and not dichroic.
It appears I will never know unless I contact the manufacturers.
Thanks a million for all of your help.

 

[Hysteresis]

Here I am - 13 months on and I am still experiencing an unreasonable frequency of GU10 replacement. I have tried dichroic and PAR varieties of GU10's and still I get a low life of most of the bulbs. The next door neighbours do not seem to suffer the same problem. The only difference I can come up with between the properties is the fact that there is a 50 inch Plasma TV in the my house, but surely this is not a generator of switching transients????
As this house is only lived in for about four days a week due to my job, the lights are not used as much as my neighbours.
I am still experiencing a high failure rate of GU10's and still have no idea as to why/ Any more ideas from anyone????

 

[RF Lighting]

How many lights do you have in your house?

Have you tried writing the date on the lamps as you install them?

If you have 10 lights in a room, they you will obviously be replacing lamps 10 times as often as you would be with just one centre light.

 

[LearningSpark]

Is there any insulation on or around the fittings causing them to hold the heat in? this could shorten the life of the lamp if they are running too hot.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Any more ideas from anyone????

Get rid of the things - they are a completely carp way to light up rooms anyway.

Have you sat down and worked out how much you've spent on lamps and electricity in the last year?

 

[Hysteresis]

How many lights do you have in your house?.

I have 20 fittings around the house, and oer the last year I have changed 22 lamps. I might add that I have changed some twice and a couple have not been changed at all.

Some of the fittings are of the fire rated type and some are of the open design. Both types are subject to the bulb failure. I can't determine a common factor to the failing units

 

[riveralt]

How many lights do you have in your house?.

I have 20 fittings around the house, and oer the last year I have changed 22 lamps. I might add that I have changed some twice and a couple have not been changed at all.

Some of the fittings are of the fire rated type and some are of the open design. Both types are subject to the bulb failure. I can't determine a common factor to the failing units

Are the 'open design' in the bathroom or kitchen? if so steam could be a problem.

The only way to resolve this is to call an electrician in or systematically check the connections for each and every one of the torchlights you have. Problems I have seen include loose connections, cracked/broken fixings and bad batch of lamps.
Oh and Why have you waited 13 months to change these things to proper lights?

 

[Hysteresis]

Is there any insulation on or around the fittings causing them to hold the heat in? this could shorten the life of the lamp if they are running too hot.

I have noticed that the fireproof design units have a heat resistant flexible seal which is there presumable to stop any flames with in a room getting past the bulb in the event of a house fire????. This seal may be raising the temparatue of the bulb, so on two of the units I haver removed this seal to see if that improves the life of the bulb. Having said that, I have other units which are open ventilated and most of these units have failed over the year. Neighbours with identical house design do not seem to be experiencing my problem which led me to question any electrical equipment I have in the hoouse and the only thing I can come up with is a 50" Plasma TV and maybe a different design Microwave oven.
I am still at a loss to account for the unreasonable amount of bulbs I am getting through.

 

[Hysteresis]

Any more ideas from anyone????

Get rid of the things - they are a completely carp way to light up rooms anyway.

Have you sat down and worked out how much you've spent on lamps and electricity in the last year?

I don't agree that they are a bad way to light a room, I personally find them far superior to pendant lights but of course that is a personal choice.
In so far as costs of of electricity is concerned, that will be fairly minimal as I am out of the house away on business a lot which further questions why the things are failing. The cost of replacment of the bulbs will be about £30 over the year.
Getting rid of them is of course an option, but the filling of the holes left by their removal is a bit of a pain, and I don't like pendant lights. In the living areas I can get away with table lights, but in the kitchen this would be a problem.
The ideal solution would be to determine why these bulbs are failing, hence the initial posting.
I am not making any headway so far.

 

[Hysteresis]

How many lights do you have in your house?.

I have 20 fittings around the house, and oer the last year I have changed 22 lamps. I might add that I have changed some twice and a couple have not been changed at all.

Some of the fittings are of the fire rated type and some are of the open design. Both types are subject to the bulb failure. I can't determine a common factor to the failing units

Are the 'open design' in the bathroom or kitchen? if so steam could be a problem.

The only way to resolve this is to call an electrician in or systematically check the connections for each and every one of the torchlights you have. Problems I have seen include loose connections, cracked/broken fixings and bad batch of lamps.
Oh and Why have you waited 13 months to change these things to proper lights?

The open design are in the living area and these are still subject to failure.
The fireproof design are in the kitchen but there is very little steam generaterd in there as the amount of cooking I do is verging on nill.

An earlier posting explained why I have not removed them over the last 13 months. There would be no need to remove them if I could determine the cause of the problem. As pointed out in earlier postings, neighbours don't appear to experience the same failure rate, so it is something specific to this house or electrical units within it, or my method of using them.
I am still searching for a solution but unsuccessfully so far,
.

 

[bernardgreen]

When you replace a lamp do you use a tissue or clean cloth to hold the lamp ?

If you touch the glass with your fingers then there can be a deposit left on the glass. When the glass is hot this deposit then acts as a seed to start a change in the glass leading to failure of the lamp. Even clean and dry fingers can leave enough residue on the glass to start the process.

 

[flameport]

I have 20 fittings around the house, and oer the last year I have changed 22 lamps.

No real problem then.
On average, each one is lasting about a year. Although some have lasted longer than this and some have been replaced twice, that is just how averages work.