What would cause one bulb of a four bulb halogen bathroom light to burn out almost immediately?

Question

Our home came equipped with this light and three of the bulbs have lasted about forever but the fourth goes on for a bit and then by the next day is burned out.

Answer 1

The most common reason is either you are touching the bulb with your bare hands while it is off or water is splashing on it while it is on. Halogen bulbs do not respond well to touching the glass. The oil in your hand will cause them to go out quickly.

I assume the bulbs in each light is exactly the same brand, wattage, and size.

It cannot be a typical wiring problem. Actually, I cannot think of any wiring problem that would cause this. It certainly is NOT because you are running a low voltage bulb on a high voltage circuit.

Answer 2

hmm my guess is the thing is wired improperly. maybe that one bulb is getting too much juice, while the others are not. generally, halogens are low voltage. maybe it is getting the current before it gets transformed down. 110 into a low voltage lamp will burn it out real quick. unless you know what you are doing, replace the fixture or have it replaced. it can probably be repaired, but without actually seeing the wiring of it, i cannot say for sure.

If, it is what i think. you can rewire that socket by taking power from the socket next to it. that will probably dim them both, but not if you do it parallel, not series. see if there is a transformer hidden somewhere, some times they just go bad, and put too much juice through one set of leads.

if it is not a low voltage unit, your guess is as good as mine. Halogens should last a very long time if the voltage is right.

Answer 3

It sounds strange that this is going on. Check to see that you are not
exceeding the wattage the fixture is rated for. If that checks ok than try to handle the replacement bulbs with a glove on so that there are no smudges on the glass bulb. If these things don't help than either stop using the fourth socket or replace the fixture.

Good luck

Answer 4

Their is a small part that needs repaired - I'm thinkng (they always need to repair them in our office) - oh yeah, the ballasts! Have those checked.