Blowing Fuse Wire

[lilblue1970]

I'm probably going to get told to change my fusebox, but I had a bulb blow on my 3 light ceiling pendant and it blew the 5 amp fuse wire in my fusebox. Question is, does this point to anything more ominous or is it just a one-off? I've had bulbs blow in the past, but they haven't taken out the fusewire. Cheers in advance.

 

[EFLImpudence]

I'm probably going to get told to change my fusebox,

No, probably still perfectly acceptable.

but I had a bulb blow on my 3 light ceiling pendant and it blew the 5 amp fuse wire in my fusebox.

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. It depends on how the bulb fails.

Question is, does this point to anything more ominous or is it just a one-off?

No, nothing serious, may happen again. That's life.

I've had bulbs blow in the past, but they haven't taken out the fusewire.

As above.

 

[JohnD]

if you change to a modern consumer unit with MCBs, they will actually trip more often (because they are faster-acting than fusewire when a surge comes freom a melting filament)

In my experience, non-standard bulbs like candles and especially spotlights are worst for creating a surge when they fail.

However energy-saving lamps (CFLs) don't cause this; another good reason for changing.

BTW in the recent "Which" survey, many well-known CFLs are still slow to brighten when turned on from cold. Osram Duluxstar and Superstar (but not the miniball) were Best Buys that are fairly fast to light and at a reasonable price. The other best buys were slow to light and/or very expensive.

"The Superstar is one of the best of this type for gaining brightness quickly, but it still only emits 38% of its light after three-seconds."

The Philips were particularly slow to brighten "After three seconds use, this Softone emitted only 20% of its total light output"

And some GE were even worse "Three seconds after being switched on, this bulb only shines 15% of its actual light output."

And "The Megaman is not a good choice for any space where you need light at all quickly. We found an average of 0% - no light at all - was emitted by the Megaman three seconds after being switched on. Even after one minute on, it had only reached around half of its light output"

Ikea Sparsam were quite quick but failed to last the hours specified.

 

[ericmark]

When a bulb blows it can cause ionisation of the gas inside the glass, this means it takes a lot of current for a few seconds, and in theory they should have a built in fuse which would blow before the house fuse.

The modern trip tends to open anyway even with a built in fuse so many manufactures seem to miss out fitting internal fuses. And even if they do include them it will still from time to time blow a fuse. This is normal and not a problem. (Except you have to renew the fuse)

Although in theory compact florescent lamps (CFU or Energy saving) should also have built in fuses again it seems manufactures do miss them out. Ikea does seem to sell them without internal fuses but the only real problem is where some one has fitted a fuse/MCB larger than 6A in which case it can weld the terminals of the lamp to the holder so one has to change whole holder. This does not seem to happen with the old tungsten but the solder terminals can form hollows which again makes it hard to remove a bulb. So although there may be other benefits from using CFU lamps not blowing fuses is not one of them. It is really down to cheap manufacturing.

Moving to a trip (MCB) rather than a fuse does make it easier to correct when things go wrong but does not make it any safer. Using a RCD/RCBO trip does increase safety but with old houses they can also be a pain tripping out on a regular basis.

I moved to trips (RCD and MCB) when my son was young as he was playing with radios and computers and if you have something in your household which means extra protection is required then yes good idea but it is a personal preference nothing says you must.

As to the soft start with CFU's I consider it to be a benefit. When my wife has dozed off switching on the light does not wake her. In the past I used dimming switches to get soft start now not required.

As to life of lamps it seems to test a load of lamps are switched on together and when a agreed percentage have failed that time is considered as the life of the lamp. So if for example you used 10 x 8W lamps in a room you would expect one to fail early but with CFU's most should last a couple of years.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I had a bulb blow on my 3 light ceiling pendant and it blew the 5 amp fuse wire in my fusebox.

That happens

Question is, does this point to anything more ominous or is it just a one-off?

Not really, it will depend on how often this occurs to whether there is a more sinister problem.

I've had bulbs blow in the past, but they haven't taken out the fusewire. Cheers in advance.

That is also not unusual.

The best suggestion would be to simply replace the broken 5A fuse wire for 5A fuse wire and replace the lamp (bulb)
If the problem then repeats it's self in a very short time period, more investigation will be needed.
PS cheaper versions of lamps (bulbs) will blow quicker.

As far as replacing your existing fuse box for new CU, unless the existing set up is unsafe or if recent work has been carried out, that means it would be the logical option to comply. I wouldn't bother. If it ain't broke etc.......

 

[JohnD]

I have often had MCBs trip from blowing filament lamps (especially spotlights) but have never had a trip from a CFL.

I'd recommend you give them a try.

For a lamp that is switched on and left on (e.g. porch, hall, landing, living room) the cheaper the better, but for a room that is often switched on and off, like a bathroom or WC, try Osram.

 

[lilblue1970]

Many thanks for all the replies. You've put my mind at rest. I'm no expert when it comes to electrickery, so I thought I'd bow to the greater knowledge on here.

 

[yorkspark]

yup nothing to worry about, rewireables (bs 3036) are covered in the 17th edition so perfectly acceptable, just annoying when they blow!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And some GE were even worse "Three seconds after being switched on, this bulb only shines 15% of its actual light output."

I have several GE MiniTechs installed - I don't recognise that description at all.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

yup nothing to worry about, rewireables (bs 3036) are covered in the 17th edition so perfectly acceptable, just annoying when they blow!

A jolly fine way to reduce the annoyance level is to buy a few more carriers, and have them sitting there prewired, so that if one blows you can just plug in a replacement and rewire the removed one at your leisure, rather than having to do it there and then by torchlight.

 

[TheGayOwl]

A jolly fine way to reduce the annoyance level is to buy a few more carriers, and have them sitting there prewired, so that if one blows you can just plug in a replacement and rewire the removed one at your leisure, rather than having to do it there and then by torchlight.

Indeed as BAS says, whenever I rip out an old 3036 I always keep the fuse carriers. Having big hands, like I do, can make replacing the wire annoying at times!!

You could change the fuses over to something like http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Images/Products/size_3/XWYB6.JPG

Be aware though that if it is tripping out often, then further investigation would be prudent. I had a client recently who had the same issue; it turned out to be shorting out in the light fitting itself which, when replaced, is now fine.

Regards.

 

[NewOrder]

Only ever happened once here in the 31 years the fuse box has existed. A bulb blew and tripped the fuse.

I keep all the spare fuse wire handy though with the correct grades just in case.

 

[Monkeh]

yup nothing to worry about, rewireables (bs 3036) are covered in the 17th edition so perfectly acceptable, just annoying when they blow!

A jolly fine way to reduce the annoyance level is to buy a few more carriers, and have them sitting there prewired, so that if one blows you can just plug in a replacement and rewire the removed one at your leisure, rather than having to do it there and then by torchlight.

You could also use cartridge fuses, which are so very much easier to deal with. And don't turn the box black when they blow.

 

[NewOrder]

As longs as the OP has the proper fuses there, I've read that a lot of people tend to use 1363 sockets in them not realising

If you're going to the faff of changing fuses though, I would be tempted to convert to MCB. I have never bothered changing ours because the fuses don't blow anyway so seems like a lot of messing just for a tiny increase in protection.