two lights to one electrical box, one burns bulbs quickly?

Question

this makes me realize that my understanding of electric lights is wrong. i was under the impression that if i held a wire from each hole in an outlet to the base and side of a bulb, without getting electrocuted, that it would light up, and that if i wired up more than one bulb they would all light up, using up whatever wattage the filament carried. i don't know why one fixture would lead to a bulb being burn out quicker. is there a reason to think that there are power surges? my new thought is that the socket or something else in the fixture has a bad connection leading to an imperciptible "flickering" which wears out the filament.

Answer 1

Shut off the power and remove the offending bulb. Use a flashlight and look int to socket. There is a brass tab all the way inside the socket, use your pinky finger or small screwdriver and pull this tab up. They get depressed from bulb ends and can cause a small arcing effect that will burn the bulb out prematurely.

Yoda out

Answer 2

the center brass tab in the socket is to low and not making good electrical connection. this often happens in fixtures. we use a needle nose pliers to gently pull up on the center tab about 1/4" and then turn the power back on . it should take care of it. If it doesn't you may have a loose connection either in the fixture socket or by the switch.

Answer 3

yes if you hold wires like you said it will work,
are you buying bulbs that are a higher wattage or lower ? try a hardware store ask for a 135 volt bulb, around 60 watt if it burns out then you have a wireing problem,

Answer 4

complex task. browse using google or bing. that will can assist!