Why is my light bulb smoking?

Question

The ceiling light in my room has two 26W helical energy efficient light bulbs in it. The total wattage the fixture can handle is 60W. This afternoon I noticed that the light bulb was smoking. I immediately turned the light off. When I took the bowl-cover off of the light the bulb was no longer smoking, but I could smell electrical smoke. Why did it do this, and what do I need to do to fix it??

Answer 1

First remove the complete fitting after you have turned off the power, check the wiring connections , you may notice a burned out part or A loose  wire, if you have purchased a cheaper fitting sometimes this happens, myself I would relace the whole fitting which will cost about £5 and then you know you are ok.

Answer 2

Cause he wants to get high. LOL.

Answer 3

you could have a short, do not turn it back on till you have it checked out

Answer 4

do you mean a CFL? a compact flourescent lamp? they are not designed to be in tight quarters where they cannot dissapate heat... they cannot be used in all applications, i would NOT leave them in that fixture... just use a regular incandescent bulb that it was designed for... after the smoke could of came fire, good job in shutting it off.... another possibility is that it was a defective bulb from the manufacturer, or loose wires or......

Answer 5

Could be as simple as the light bulb was not screwed in tight, try tightening it up and turn it back on.

Answer 6

Other than Cartman the opinions are valid. If it is in a completely enclosed cover than the heat issue may be valid. i kind of doubt that you would see smoke with a fluorescent due to the milky color of the bulb. What you may have seen is smoke due to a short in the socket itself. This happens over time with fixtures that have been in use for a few years. The common cause is the constant changing of the bulbs compresses the center tab in the socket and the last bulb you put in compressed it far enough into the socket that it double grounded and started to arc. Take the bulb out and look inside of the socket, you will notice a small burn mark inside the socket if this has happened. I would say this may have been the first cause of the smoke. If not then it may have had to do with wire degradation from the heat build up from years of use. Heat rises and will deteriorate a lot of fixtures that way.