Hologen bulb quality

[Ron H]

Hey everybody, I was going to prime my rockers tonight. Since I don't have a booth I was going to spray them outside. Set up three halogen lights mixed my primer and started to shoot. Within five minutes all three lights went out. The bulbs are the HF ones I got at such a deal. I was sure not to touch the bulbs when I put them in. I used a rags in a box paper towel when installing. I've gon through six of them in short order. Has anybody else had problems with the HF halogen bulbs? I ended up ruining the one rocker I had started and dumped out 8 oz. or so of primer. What a savings. Like Len always says; you get what you pay for. Regards Ron

[AlexeiVT]

Nowadays, I always get my 500 Watt Halogen bulbs from the Dollar Store (not much invested if things do fail...but so far, their lifespan seems acceptable).

They've usually held up just fine (of course it's a hassle when any bulb fails, depending on where your fixture is {I have some attached to the rafters}...but I can't see it having much to do w/ a "bargain" vs. "quality" bulb for something that isn't banged around, especially when some places charge $8, you can usually get a fixture w/ spare bulb for $10...never bought into expensive bulbs).

Whenever I install them, in addition to putting them in w/ a paper towel to hold them, I always wipe them down after installation w/ an alcohol prep pad (who knows who/what contacted them wherever overseas...can't hurt to eliminate that as a variable).

Also, as an aside...I did have one halogen light fixture that would routinely blow bulbs every few times I turned it on. It was quite the annoyance (since I had another lamp I purchased at the same time, and never had any issues w/ it after years of use).

I decided to take my chances (I always pack the receipts in the box/and bag where I got the lamp from), and explained that I understood that the lamp fixture itself was well out of warranty, but there was obviously something wrong w/ that light since it'd blown 4 or so bulbs in a short time.

Well, low and behold, and a surprise to me, they refunded my money (I still needed a replacement lamp fixture anyway, so headed right to the same isle to get a new one...only this time, they weren't carrying the same manufacturer/style as that I had just replaced).

Needless to say, the replacement lamp has held up just fine w/ no issues...I think if you're unlucky enough to get your hands on something that went afoul in a production run, you have to bide your time or shop elsewhere, because there are probably potentially 100's of thousands of these "not-up-to" spec things out there.

[Len]

Hey everybody, I was going to prime my rockers tonight. Since I don't have a booth I was going to spray them outside. Set up three halogen lights mixed my primer and started to shoot. Within five minutes all three lights went out. The bulbs are the HF ones I got at such a deal. I was sure not to touch the bulbs when I put them in. I used a rags in a box paper towel when installing. I've gon through six of them in short order. Has anybody else had problems with the HF halogen bulbs? I ended up ruining the one rocker I had started and dumped out 8 oz. or so of primer. What a savings. Like Len always says; you get what you pay for. Regards Ron

If you had a couple of fluorescent fixtures it would probably serve you much better. It's usually not a matter of illuminating the surface as much as it is casting a reflection that you can see in the surface. The reflection can usually tell you more about the application of your paint than a bright light can.