On Wed, 14 Jan 2015 23:14:33 -0600, Martin Eastburn
wrote:

On 1/14/2015 3:32 PM, Steve W. wrote:
wrote:
On Wed, 14 Jan 2015 10:45:56 -0600, "Paul K. Dickman"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
Grease is an excellent idea. On a similar theme, I've been replacing
corroded light bulbs (with broken bulbs) in 2 different ladies' houses
recently and have used a skosh of either white lithium or vaseline on
the sockets and bases I'm putting the bulbs in. They won't have
another broken bulb again and all those gawdawful incans will be easy
to change from now on. One lady got so rambunctious that she ripped
up the socket base, too. This on a ladder 10' up in her house. She
had the concept OK, but you''re only supposed to put the needle nose
pliers on the broken bulb base and twist. She got both. Aluminum on
aluminum creates a sticky problem.

I use NO-OX grease, the stuff you use for Al wire. Mostly because I
bought a giant tube of it 20 years ago and it's still in my electric
toolkit and nearly full.

Somewhere, decades ago, they started making the bases on cheap bulbs
out of aluminum.
This wasn't a problem because they made the screw shell in the socket
out of brass or nickle.

Yeah, remember when it was simple to change a bulb? Easy in, easy out.
Nickel and brass were nice and slippery.


Then they started cheaping out on the sockets too. Al on Al
(particularly in a base up configuration) is a recipe for problems.

Paul K. Dickman
Not a problem with the lights at our church - the bulbs have not been
lasting long enough for corrosion to set in!!! In the building 16
months and I've replaced half the bulbs already (and that's with less
than 6 hours a week use!!!)

If he sticks with incans, he needs to switch to the heavy duty utility
bulbs rated at 130v, but LEDs would be much, much better. The quicker
we get rid of the wasteful incans, the longer our ancient Grid will
last, too. Using 6W instead of 13 (CFL) or 100W (incan) is easier on
the pocketbook.


What make are those bulbs???????

Switch to LED, at the rate you're swapping bulbs they would pay for
themselves in about a year!

I suspect the bulbs are special types - but LED's come in all shapes
now. Even Sams have flame lamps.

I'm buying directly from China until American mfgrs put out something
at a decent price. I can't afford $50 for a bulb, knowwhatImeanVern?
(40/60W-equivalent LED bulbs suck, but that's all that is under $20)
I simply won't support American companies relabeling Chiwanese imports
and selling them at 4x-10x the cost, either.

If you find a bulb style at a good price, consider adapters at a buck
apiece (or less) to fit them to your existing fixtures. I grabbed a
handful of each (gu10, e14, e12, mr16, etc.) adapters so I can run any
lamp in my fixtures. Plus 12v MR16, E26, and T10 for my solar system.
I'm careful to mark all bulbs with the voltage and wattage as they
come in, for later reference and safety, since few are marked.

LEDs beat the hell out of CFLs, too. The early/cheap Chiwanese bulbs
aren't all good, but instant refunds come from the vendors, so it's
not much of a loss. (Shipping takes 2-5 weeks, though some importers
are here in the States and I can buy through these small U.S.
companies and get quick shipping, supporting both them and the good
old USPS!

One thing to look out for is equivalent watts being sold as actual
watts. I'm having that problem with the Eagle Eye bulbs now. Only 1
shipment out of 4 was properly labeled, and I still don't have the 9W
LEDs I wanted for backup lights on my truck. sigh I'll use the
lesser bulbs in flashlights, I guess.

These draw only 110mA @ 12v and are very bright, but not as bright as
they should be. http://tinyurl.com/p85ffbn A pair of those added to
the pair of 3W (70mA) LEDs should do the trick for me, though.


--
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable
one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore,
all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
-- George Bernard Shaw