Re: Insteon Observations

[AZ Woody <reply@here>]

Come on...  This is all like discussing how many angels can dance on the
head of a pin...

In reality, don't most folks buy light bulbs at Home Depot, Lowes,
Target, Walmart, (or at their local food store if they ran short)!

I doubt that 99.9999% of the folks would buy "fused bulbs" vs "unfused
bulbs" but will buy what's on sale..  Do you all not have a life?

Dave Houston wrote:
> G. Morgan <alarmpro@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Anyway,  I have never experienced what you describe (a circuit breaker
>> trip) on failure of a bulb.  My common sense tells me the arc (air gap
>> resistor) would be a great, sudden, resistance that would indeed draw
>> a large current spike.  Part of me thinks the opposite is true - for
>> which I have no basis!
>>
>> I was not aware that common bulbs had a fuse either, I thought the
>> filament IS the fuse.
>>
>> My interest in this has nothing to do with Insteon devices, it has
>> more to do with what I can do to protect the circuit for devices I
>> install, if the theory is true.  It may explain some anomalies I've
>> experienced with security devices.
>
> The tungsten-arc is for real. The built-in fuse is also. If you hear a "pop"
> and see a bright flash, you're buying cheap bulbs. If you hear a "poof" and
> notice a bit of a flicker before darkness descends, your bulbs are fused
> (even if cheap).
>
> The inrush current for an incandescent is about 10 times the current once
> the filament has warmed to its normal temperature. For a 100W bulb this
> means an inrush at turn-on of +8A. The "fuse", if any, built in to the wire
> leading from base to the filament should withstand the inrush but blow
> before a 15A breaker is tripped by a tungsten-arc.
>
>
> http://davehouston.net
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/roZetta/
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