Hexploding lightbulbs.

[zeitghost]

Very impressed with the detonation of a Tesco 100W lightbulb (the proper Real Lizard's type).

Went off like a small bomb distributing bits all over the kitchen.

Took out the fuse in the fuse box, so all the lights went out.

It didn't have a fuse built into it, which must have saved Tesco a fortune.

Didn't do my nerves a lot of good though.

The most obvious thing is that it didn't have an internal fuse.

When a tungsten filament blows, an arc forms across the filament.

This can then form directly across the filament supports and can easily take 100s of amps.

Most lightbulbs have an internal fuse that blows when this happens.

The Tesco "atom bomb" specials plainly lack this feature.

All the glass fell out of the bayonet cap with bits all over the floor.

I was ever so impressed once I stopped swearing.

I also discovered that there are rewireable fuses in the fuse box, not MCBs as I expected.

And if you wish to bore yourself tulipless, read the thing this site points at:

http://www.low-energy-lighting.com/part-l.htm

Magic.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ved-document-l

It even goes into vast & tedious detail about what to do if you want to replace an upstairs ceiling.

[Churchill]

It's a cat-grenade!

[Paddy]

It's a cat-grenade!

Was it a Charles Bronson movie that had a bomb in a lightbulb?

[Churchill]

Was it a Charles Bronson movie that had a bomb in a lightbulb?

Inject a flammable liquid & Air into the bulb...

You do realise that we can probably get arrested for that information...

A bit like Tom Clancy putting forward the "flying a passenger jet into a building" idea forward in one of his books...

[EternalOptimist]

uncle fester could make them light up and explode without lecky or flammable liquids


Fester from Leicester

[xoggoth]

Maybe it's a new thing to annoy us. A bulb went in our hallway last week and tripped out the breaker. The main function of government and all large companies is to find new ways of annoying us.

Why does one need breakers that trip on under 1ma anyway? Often grabbed the live wire in one hand and the earth in the other, it never did me any harm.

[TimberWolf]

Took out the fuse in the fuse box, so all the lights went out.

Impressive. Did you examine the remains and if so what were the post-mortem findings? Did the contact wires short?

[Paddy]

Slightly off topic but…

A Southampton housing association (privatised money making charity fed by tax payers money and subsidised by council tax). Fitted their new houses and flats with energy saving light-bulbs that had a bayonet fitting plus an extra pin. The result is that the residents must by light-bulbs from the housing association’s own maintenance company at a cost of £8.00 per bulb.

[EternalOptimist]

I also discovered that there are rewireable fuses in the fuse box, not MCBs as I expected.

good. a bit of tinfoil from the chicken and you'll be right

[Paddy]

http://www.oliverlamps.com/katalogue...nt+Light+Bulbs

I bought a load of these 20 years ago. Orginal bulbs are still going well and I have unused spares.