I’d put a piece of masking tape over the empty socket to keep fingers out, the turn on the light switch and see if anything untoward happens. If not, turn the switch off, move one of the other bulbs (old CFL that you’d like to replace anyway) into that socket, put the tape over the newly empty socket, and try the switch again.

If you leave the socket empty for troubleshooting or whatever, and want to avoid turning the lights on, put a BIG piece of tape over the switch as a reminder not to turn it on.


LEDs always come on full bright. Earlier LEDs had a brief delay before coming on. Newer ones are better. Many CFLs come on sort of dim and get brighter over several minutes. Usually, the colder it is , the dimmer it comes on initially. I liked that for the bathroom so the bulbs would get bright gradually as I was waking up. Mrs pj likes very bright lights in the bathroom and she’s very happy with three 7W LEDs in there now.

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Originally posted by QuirtEvans:

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Originally posted by big al:

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Originally posted by QuirtEvans:
I'm having a similar problem in my office. Two of the overhead cans seem to burn out LEDs in a matter of a month or two. I suspect I'll need an electrician to address this.

It may be an overheating problem, particularly if the cans are insulated as they may be and the LED bulbs are reflector types such as are often used in cans. The larger lamps restrict air flow and the insulation tends to retain the heat the lamp generates within the can.

Big Al

Thanks, that's probably the right answer. I guess the LEDs are more sensitive to that sort of temperature change than the incandescents, which didn't have a problem there.

I think it’s not so much the actual LEDs, but the electronics in the base of the bulb. If the bulbs get dimmer and you can see dark spots, individual LEDs are pooping out. If it goes all at once, it’s the circuitry.

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:
I'm having a similar problem in my office. Two of the overhead cans seem to burn out LEDs in a matter of a month or two. I suspect I'll need an electrician to address this.

My guess is that you have a bad box of light bulbs. I’d install one from a new box (go with a name brand like Philips or GE) and see what happens. You could also move the lamp from a fixture that doesn’t have the problem to a fixture that does.

Ok, we took out all the bulbs, Mr. SK checked inside and inspected all the sockets. None of them look burned, charred, or had any signs of concern, and they all looked the same on the inside.

So we replaced all the bulbs with new LED bulbs (Phillips, as it happens). Turned on the lights, no smells, no crackles.

I suspect the problem was indeed that CFL bulb.

I think we will leave it (well, I mean, we'll keep the lights off when we're not using that bathroom), but I think we're not going to call the prop. co. about it unless there's another sign that there's a problem.