Why do my G9 Xenon bulbs keep blowing?

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Our kitchen has quite a lot of these and the bulbs seem to be blowing quite regularly - quite disappointing as they're supposed to be long life. These are the ones we've been using and I'm not sure if it's poor quality or whether there's something wrong with our lighting

Can anybody recommend decent/high quality G9 bulbs?

[SWoll]

Perhaps you keep putting them in the wrong place?

[dave01253]

Bulbs of the same type/size/brand are manufactured to have a similar lifespan to each other, so if they were all fitted from new at the same time, they will all be failing around the same time.

Bulbs don't like vibration and lots of on/off cycles either.

[dxg]

Are you touching them with bare skin?

[dxg]

Also, not sure that a company that feels the need to call itself the "Long Life Lamp Company" is necessarily going to be producing bulbs with a particularly long life. Call me a cynic...

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dave01253 said:

Bulbs of the same type/size/brand are manufactured to have a similar lifespan to each other, so if they were all fitted from new at the same time, they will all be failing around the same time.

Bulbs don't like vibration and lots of on/off cycles either.

No. They're being constantly replaced over the 6 years since we've moved in.

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dxg said:

Are you touching them with bare skin?

Yes......I did think about that but I've not read anywhere that we need to use gloves to put them in?

[deckster]

I have 9 halogen G9s lighting my lounge and am forever replacing them.

I've just invested in a load of dimmable LED versions, it's too early really to tell for sure but a month down the line I've not yet had to replace any of them.

[ARHarh]

why not use LED bulbs?

[Byker28i]

Use a tissue when replacing them, same as with car headlight bulbs. cut down on the number we were replacing, although I've now swapped out the lights for ones that take LED bulbs

[Jaska]

Had the same issue with halogen ones where one went pop every few months it felt like, changed to LED two years ago and haven't had to replace one since.

(top tip make sure to buy 'warm' colour led instead of just white otherwise you'll be lit up like a dental waiting room...)

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Byker28i said:

Use a tissue when replacing them, same as with car headlight bulbs. cut down on the number we were replacing, although I've now swapped out the lights for ones that take LED bulbs

Interesting - thanks. I did wonder but, as I said, nowehere in the guidance did it say use tissues

So just to check (and apologies for noob question) the LED lights don't have an issue with being touched?

[bungz]

No not as much as a problem with LED.

Halogen ones are a pita and a full ceiling of them burns quite a lot of £

[DaveCWK]

I've had a nightmare with g9 bulbs.

Regular ones just don't last, as you've found. I've tried loads of types, from branded to eBay cheapies. All the same.

Most LED ones aren't dimmable.

The ones that do claim to be dimmable often have bad 50hz flicker, are really dim (equilavent to 20w max), or are much longer than the halogen bulbs so don't work in my fittings.

[Digger]

deckster said:

I have 9 halogen G9s lighting my lounge and am forever replacing them.

I've just invested in a load of dimmable LED versions, it's too early really to tell for sure but a month down the line I've not yet had to replace any of them.

Which LED bulbs did you buy?

[deckster]

Digger said:

deckster said:

I have 9 halogen G9s lighting my lounge and am forever replacing them.

I've just invested in a load of dimmable LED versions, it's too early really to tell for sure but a month down the line I've not yet had to replace any of them.

Which LED bulbs did you buy?

These https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KS12BLL/r...

But don't take that as any particular recommendation as I just picked them at random

That said, they seem to be lasting OK at the moment and I don't notice any flicker. They are about 10mm longer than standard though so do check if your fittings are tight on space.

[dhutch]

Countdown said:

.... quite disappointing as they're supposed to be long life. These are the ones we've been using and I'm not sure if it's poor quality or whether there's something wrong with our lighting

Can anybody recommend decent/high quality G9 bulbs?

To be fair, these do look like cheap tat, and at a quid a go, they are getting on towards priced as such.

Try some Osram/Sylvania, Philips, that sort of thing.

Else as said, switch to LED. Not sure about dimming, but LEDvance (also Osram) and Philips both appear to do LED G9 bulbs, been very impressed with the Philips dim to warm glass-only filament candles we have. Couple of early life failures but most a year or two of daily use.

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I've switched to LED (similar to the ones linked by Deckster). Thanks for all the advice.

[Jeremy-75qq8]

I had this in an old house.

The issue was the ones on the ground floor went due to vibration from the floors above.

Replace with LED

[Murph7355]

Definitely use a cloth when changing them.

I have few/no issues with halogen G9s. They last ages in our fittings.

If the bulbs sit vertically upwards (holder at the bottom) it might also be worth blowing the holders out for any accumulation of crap.

LED ones on the other hand...getting dimmable ones that look half decent is a challenge in itself. And then you see the colour temp on them! IME a halogen/incandescent bulb will be 2700K or less to give that warm lighting feel. I've yet to find an LED bulb that gets close to the light colour of them, let alone one that is also dimmable and doesn't look like something from Anne Summers (our light fittings are crystal so the bulbs aren't hidden).