I had a quick look thru the other 285 posts in the DIY section and didn't notice a similar problem, so here I am. I have a six-lamp hanging light fixture, uses the candelabra-type bulbs with the standard-bulb type of base where it screws into the socket. I bought it at Lowe's and put it in myself, all pretty straightforward with no problems, back in 2009. The switch controlling it is a dimmer (half of a 3-way switch circuit, the other half being a standard toggle switch) which I installed back when the house was built in '93, making the switch >20 years old, but it too has worked just fine. That's the background, here's the problem:
Starting last night, one of the six bulbs suddenly flared up briefly, flickered brightly for a second and went out. I've replaced bulbs in the fixture before so I thought nothing special about it and changed the bulb. Only thing is, in less than 10 minutes the newly-replaced bulb also went out, as did a third replacement which lasted maybe a half hour or less. I wasn't observing, so can't say if the replacements flared/flickered first before going out, but the inside of both bulbs were slightly blackened and the filament was broken like the original. I'm stumped; I know enough about electricity to thoroughly respect it, meaning I know when NOT to stick my fingers into a job as I just don't know enough for that particular job. This is that kind of job, I think. Can anyone here give me some advice about what's wrong and what I can do to fix it? Thanks very much.
Starting last night, one of the six bulbs suddenly flared up briefly, flickered brightly for a second and went out. I've replaced bulbs in the fixture before so I thought nothing special about it and changed the bulb. Only thing is, in less than 10 minutes the newly-replaced bulb also went out, as did a third replacement which lasted maybe a half hour or less. I wasn't observing, so can't say if the replacements flared/flickered first before going out, but the inside of both bulbs were slightly blackened and the filament was broken like the original. I'm stumped; I know enough about electricity to thoroughly respect it, meaning I know when NOT to stick my fingers into a job as I just don't know enough for that particular job. This is that kind of job, I think. Can anyone here give me some advice about what's wrong and what I can do to fix it? Thanks very much.