24 inch Flourescent Tube Explodes.

[friebel]

I have a 24 inch flourescent tube in my kitchen above the sink. The 120 volt light switch was off, and no power to the tube.
The tube exploded and it sounded like a cannon. No one was injured by flying glass from the tube.
From now on I will have a plastic sleeve inserted over the tube.
My question is this: Has anyone ever experienced a tube exploding, and what would make this happen?

 

[jimwalker]

Re: 24 inch Flourescent Tube Explodes.

Did the bulb have clearance all around it ? Not saying that caused it but sometimes they barely fit or are the wrong diameter and might be getting pressure from a screw or the fixture.

 

[bphgravity]

Re: 24 inch Flourescent Tube Explodes.

I agree with Jim. Since a direct electrical problem cannot be assoicated because the fixture was not energized, it sonds like the lamp might have been installed improperly causing stress at the ends or on the glass itself.

I've had to install 4000 lamps in my career, and I still fight getting those two-prongs to enter the connector just right.

 

[friebel]

Re: 24 inch Flourescent Tube Explodes.

I do appreciate your input and comments. I am the persont that had the tube explode. I have been in the electrical industry field for 45 plus years, and I have never had a tube explode like this.
You did mention, "was it installed properly". This tube had been in service for sometime and too my knowledge, no one had touched it.
I know that I will put a plastic sleeve over the new tube that I install. I am just puzzeled, as to what could have caused this tube to explode.

 

[caosesvida]

Re: 24 inch Flourescent Tube Explodes.

did the ambient temperature rise significantly, over a toaster oven, or ballast overheat dramatically?

 

[bthielen]

Re: 24 inch Flourescent Tube Explodes.

I was thinking along similar lines as caosesvida. Perhaps the ambient temperature changed somehow enough to cause a pressure differential between the bulb's interior and exterior.

I remember a time when I was sitting in a maintenance shop having lunch when all of a sudden the rear window shattered on of one of the utility pickups. Nobody was anywhere near the vehicle at the time and it had been parked for almost 1/2 hour. The only explanation we could come up with was that the interior of the truck got warm when it sat outside in the sun and after bringing it inside the pressure inside the cab changed enough as it cooled to implode the glass.

Perhaps the age of the glass, in either the light bulb or the truck, weakened its ability to withstand temperature and/or pressure changes.

Bob