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Old 08-25-2018, 03:01 PM   #1
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What Makes an Incandescent Bulb Burn Out?

I very rarely use my scare light and my porch light on my Windjammer. I have used the scare light maybe five times and the porch light about 10 times over the last three years. Each time they were used, they were only on for a few minutes. This morning I tried to use the scare light and it didn’t come on, so I tried the porch light and it didn’t come on either. I figured it must be a fuse, but it wasn’t. I took the covers off of both lights and the bulbs were blackish on the inside, but both of the filaments were intact. There are no signs of moisture or water intrusion inside of the light fixtures. I tested the sockets and I had power, so I installed new bulbs and they work.

What would cause these bulbs to go bad with hardly any use, and why are the filaments still intact and the inside of the bulbs black?

Bruce
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Old 08-25-2018, 03:03 PM   #2
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Incandescent porch lights have actually caused fires on several trailers, due to excessive heat. PLEASE change out to LED!
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Old 08-25-2018, 03:18 PM   #3
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Incandescent porch lights have actually caused fires on several trailers, due to excessive heat. PLEASE change out to LED!
Is there an easy way to work out how to convert from 1156 and 1141 incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs?

Bruce
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Old 08-25-2018, 03:38 PM   #4
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Google is your friend.
Just search for 1156 led
and 1141 led.
Ebay has them.
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Old 08-25-2018, 05:04 PM   #5
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What causes incandescent bulbs to burn out without the filament getting burnt in two is a small leak in the bulb allowing just plain old air inside. It used to happen a lot when water would get inside the light assembly and crack the hot bulb. Had it happen several times on a boat trailer years ago.
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Old 08-25-2018, 05:14 PM   #6
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Besides air leakage another enemy of incandescent bulbs is vibration. When cold it can fatigue the filament which then cracks. The circuit is broken but it can still look intact to the naked eye. When they are on, and subjected to sudden impact the filament is extremely hot and can be stretched to the point of breakage. Ask anyone who's ever dropped a work light while under their car about that.

Last, and perhaps the most common factor, is how cheaply most of these lamps are made. The price of replacement LED bulbs that still use the same type socket has come way down so I'd recommend replacing with the new technology.

I positively love my trailer. Not a single incandescent bulb anywhere. Not even in the refrigerator. I can have every light in the trailer turned on and consume less power than a single light bulb (60 watt 120 v). Even the 12 v bulbs use more power and put out less light than the LED replacememts
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Old 08-25-2018, 05:28 PM   #7
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Is there an easy way to work out how to convert from 1156 and 1141 incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs?

Bruce
auto parts stores have direct replacements.
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Old 08-25-2018, 06:18 PM   #8
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Good question and good answers. Thanks.
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Old 08-25-2018, 09:15 PM   #9
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The only bulbs on my trailer that weren't led are the porch, hood and fridge lights. I replaced porch and hood lights with led. Not worth messing with the fridge.
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Old 08-25-2018, 09:28 PM   #10
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All good posts here.

I was told that to compare bulbs you need to look at the Lumens rating on the package instead of the old wattage ratings we were used to.
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Old 08-25-2018, 09:44 PM   #11
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The only bulbs on my trailer that weren't led are the porch, hood and fridge lights. I replaced porch and hood lights with led. Not worth messing with the fridge.
If you have a Dometic fridge with a Low Ambient Switch, you should NOT change the incandescent bulb for an LED (at least not if you plan to use the fridge in cold weather).

See page 18 of the attached.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf Dometic Refrigerator Diagnostic Service Manual.pdf (2.42 MB, 35 views)
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Old 08-26-2018, 06:05 AM   #12
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Thank you, everybody. I love learning.

I think I will make changing all of my exterior bulbs to LED my next project. All of my interior bulbs, except for my range hood light, are LED from the factory.

Bruce
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Old 08-26-2018, 07:11 AM   #13
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Thank you, everybody. I love learning.

I think I will make changing all of my exterior bulbs to LED my next project. All of my interior bulbs, except for my range hood light, are LED from the factory.

Bruce
Contact Joe at "Cabin Bright LEDs" he was a Vender at the Goshen Rally ! Youroo! !
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Old 08-26-2018, 12:36 PM   #14
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Contact Joe at "Cabin Bright LEDs" he was a Vender at the Goshen Rally ! Youroo! !
That guy knows his bulbs and is great to work with. I just swapped my step light for a LED.
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Old 08-26-2018, 12:42 PM   #15
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Thank you, everybody. I love learning.

I think I will make changing all of my exterior bulbs to LED my next project. All of my interior bulbs, except for my range hood light, are LED from the factory.

Bruce
Amazon has the LED replacements at much cheaper prices than the car parts stores (or Walmart). However, pull one of the existing bulbs first and measure. A lot of LED replacements are substantially taller than the incandescents they replace. My marker lights would not fit an LED over 1.1 inches tall.

And yes, brightness gets measured by lumens. There a lot of "Super Bright" leds that are way too bright for exterior vehicle use. I found that if I got the regular brightness, that was still a little brighter than the incandescent it replaced.

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Old 08-26-2018, 02:28 PM   #16
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auto parts stores have direct replacements.

Or go to Amazon or Ebay and type in the search bar "1156 LED replacement", , "1141 incandescent bulbs to LED bulb replacement" or any key words using the incandescent bulb number and LED in the search. Just be careful, sometimes they stick the incandescent bulbs in the same search.
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Old 08-26-2018, 02:50 PM   #17
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X2!!!!
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Old 08-26-2018, 03:33 PM   #18
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You can test the filament by flicking the bulb with you finger and if the filament is cracked it will vibrate even though it looks good otherwise.
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Old 08-26-2018, 06:18 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by nomad297 View Post
I very rarely use my scare light and my porch light on my Windjammer. I have used the scare light maybe five times and the porch light about 10 times over the last three years. Each time they were used, they were only on for a few minutes. This morning I tried to use the scare light and it didn’t come on, so I tried the porch light and it didn’t come on either. I figured it must be a fuse, but it wasn’t. I took the covers off of both lights and the bulbs were blackish on the inside, but both of the filaments were intact. There are no signs of moisture or water intrusion inside of the light fixtures. I tested the sockets and I had power, so I installed new bulbs and they work.

What would cause these bulbs to go bad with hardly any use, and why are the filaments still intact and the inside of the bulbs black?

Bruce
Incandescent bulbs work by an internal carbon or nichrome wire glowing because it presents a high resistance to the applied voltage/current. It gets hot, all the way to near white hot, which is why you see varying colours in a bulb from orange to yellow to white. These elements are actually quite fragile as well, which is why the sometimes break, inside the envelope. The black inside the envelope is carbon, a byproduct of the wire burning, caused by impurities getting inside the envelope during manufacture.
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Old 08-26-2018, 06:35 PM   #20
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Incandescent bulbs work by an internal carbon or nichrome wire glowing because it presents a high resistance to the applied voltage/current. It gets hot, all the way to near white hot, which is why you see varying colours in a bulb from orange to yellow to white. These elements are actually quite fragile as well, which is why the sometimes break, inside the envelope. The black inside the envelope is carbon, a byproduct of the wire burning, caused by impurities getting inside the envelope during manufacture.
Sometimes it' metal actually boiling off the filament and depositing itself on the inside of the glass which can turn the glass black.

I thought they stopped using carbon filaments long ago and went to tungsten. Way back in while Edison was still alive
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