My lamp just started smoking...has this happened to anyone else?

Question

My boyfriend is visiting his parents tonight...of course....and I looked up and saw smoke coming from his floor lamp. I unplugged it and noticed dead flies underneath the light bulb. I am assuming that is what was causing the smoke. He has had that lamp for many, many years. What else could have happened? It really freaked me out and I feel really stupid right now.

Thank you all for your answers. I am just a bit paranoid and I hate being alone at night...without a fire extinguisher (stupid and risky...I know). I would go out and buy one in the morning, but I don't have my car. I am tempted to just toss the lamp, it looks and IS old and I think it could be on the fritz. But it is not mine to toss and my boyfriend is a packrat, which is generally nice because I don't necessarily enjoy creating extra trash. So thanks for the advice. There indeed is no glass above the halogen, so that is probably one thing that will prevent me from ever turning that lamp on again (unless my boyfriend decides it is worth fixing).

Answer 1

Unplug the lamp and leave it that way until you find out what's wrong. Electrical equipment shouldn't emit smoke, dead flies or otherwise.

This sounds like a halogen floor lamp that is missing a glass screen that's supposed to live over the lamp. The screen was probably removed and never replaced the last time the bulb was replaced. Unplug it, let it cool down, remove the bulb, clean everything out, clean off the lamp with a bit of rubbing alcohol to get the crud off of it, and put everything back together including all of the glass screens that originally came with it. These are tempered glass, and you can probably get one at an lighting store.

Answer 2

Replace the socket and cord to be on the safe side.
home depot has kits for that in different types and the lighting section will also have cords with pre-made ends

Get a good solid socket as they are easier to install and work out better

Silver screw is the neg. (-), brass, (or sometimes black) screw is always the pos. (+)

Sometimes the wire will be marked with brass and copper wire but they also have a bump that you can feel for on the wire rubber...just look at the box the wire comes in and it will say whats + and -


halogen?...without a cover those lamps...although old an nice...are not legal to sell anymore as they can easily start fires. I would consider not using it and getting rid of it as it truly is unsafe

Answer 3

My parents had a lamp do that and it turns out that they had to high of watt bulbs in it. The bulbs were actually melting the plastic on the lamp and it began to smoke. Did he change the bulbs recently?

Answer 4

my lamps all quit smoking for new years!! lol, yeah, that sounds likely, as anything that is close to the bulb would cook. clean them out and try the lamp again, when you can be there to watch it. once you are sure that that was the problem, say after an hour, you can figure that you fixed it. good luck, darn b/f's, never around when you need them!!

Answer 5

Try to get it to use patches instead... Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Seriously though, it could be a bare wire inside the lamp body or a faulty switch. Don't use the lamp anymore until you get it fixed or it may start a fire.

Answer 6

It could well be the dead flies and even dust. It may have smoked before but gone unnoticed. It is better to have him look at it before using it again to be on the safe side. You did the right thing in turning it off as it is better to err on the side of safety than ignore a potential hazard.

Answer 7

Those thing waste so much energy. 600 watts. on high.

Break it, throw it away, and tell your boyfriend you tripped over it. It hit you in the head, and you were in a lot of pain.

He'll get over it. and feel bad for you......