Question about light bulb burnout arc

mothra · 04-20-2009, 12:45 AM

Hello,

I've heard that the burnout arc of a light bulb can damage wall switchers and dimmers. But is it able to damage electronic appliances nearby, like computers and televisions?

Yesterday a light bulb has burnout here in my house (out of longevity) and since I have a lot of electronic appliances in the house, I feel a bit worried about the integrity of them when this happen.

thanks in advance!

unclduey · 04-20-2009, 12:50 AM

Thats a new one! Nothing to worry about.

J. V. · 04-20-2009, 10:53 AM

No problem. Never heard of such nonsense.

Yoyizit · 04-20-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mothra

I've heard that the burnout arc of a light bulb can damage wall switchers and dimmers. But is it able to damage electronic appliances nearby, like computers and televisions?

There is a fuse wire inside the bulb to prevent excess current draw in the event of arcing when the filament parts.

PirateKatz · 04-20-2009, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoyizit

There is a fuse wire inside the bulb to prevent excess current draw in the event of arcing when the filament parts.

Has this always been the case? When I was a kid, I can recall my grandfather warning me about what the OP brought up. Though, I tend to take everything that him and my father knew about home repair/maintenance with a grain of salt.

Yoyizit · 04-20-2009, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PirateKatz

Has this always been the case? When I was a kid, I can recall my grandfather warning me about what the OP brought up. Though, I tend to take everything that him and my father knew about home repair/maintenance with a grain of salt.

When I first heard it, it somehow made sense. Now I'm not so sure. . .

"It has been common practice to provide a fuse for certain high efficiency tungsten-halogen type lamps because these lamps have a tendency to develope an ionized arc which causes a flow of high current as is more fully described in Wiley U.S. Pat. No. 3,211,942."

This ^ is an early patent. When I left the USPTO in '99 they were just turning over patent #5,000,000.