Received a light burn from an LED bulb

PhotonWrangler

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One of the Philips 1650-lumen alien-head lamps was starting to flicker in an overhead fixture, so I pulled it out and installed a Utilitech 1600 lumen bulb in it's place. It was running for maybe a half hour while I opened up the failing Philips lamp to figure out why it was flickering.

I fixed the Philips lamp by re-seating the three 2-pin connectors for the LED panels. So I decided to pull the Utilitech bulb back out and put the Philips back in.

The plastic globe on the Utilitech bulb was fairly cool so I figured I wouldn't need a glove to unscrew it. But then my fingers came in contact with the metal neck of the bulb and OWW! :eek: :rant:
I still have red marks on my fingers.

Be careful with these bulbs.

**Update**

I can't find this 100W equivalent on the "blue" DIY store's website anymore, but the reviews I see for the 40w and 60w versions state that they don't last very long and they also get very hot. I won't be buying any more of these LED bulbs.

**Another update**

I decided to take some thermal measurements of this bulb. I set it up in a best-case scenario, operating base-down with no enclosure. After about 20 minutes, the metal neck of the bulb reached 160 degrees F. According to the American Burn Association, it only takes 1 second of exposure to 155 degrees F to produce a third degree burn. I don't feel that an LED lamp should be running this hot, especially in an unenclosed socket.




 
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iamlucky13

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Props for sharing the thermal image.

However, 160 degrees is not unusual, and most packaging seems to include warnings that bulbs can get hot and should not be handled until they cool down.

Here's another example (80deg C is 176deg F):
http://www.ledbenchmark.com/display.php?id=257&name=Cree,+Inc.+100W+Replacement+Soft+White+Dimmable

I do a lot of baking, and I'm sure I've held things over 150 degrees for several seconds without getting burned, much less a third degree burn.

Is your information perhaps for large area exposure to hot water? Hot water is a very high hazard due to its high heat capacity, and large area exposure means the heat can't be spread out through much of tissue to reduce the harm.
 

PhotonWrangler

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Thanks for your feedback.

192 degrees F for the Cree bulb? Yikes. I guess this is more common than I thought.

On the question of scalding temperature, I would assume it's lower with water because there's a much better thermal path from the water to your skin. I would like to see an equivalent chart for dry, hot surfaces.
 

PhotonWrangler

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I'm currently testing a Philips "Warm Glow" 100w equivalent LED bulb. This lamp has an open vent hole at the top as well as a vent slot on the neck. However even with these vents, it's only running 2 degrees cooler than the Utilitech bulb, and the globe runs hotter because of the vertical LED placement. The bright spot on the neck a ventilation slot.


Philips BC18A21
 
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Bentjudges

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I run KZ bulb next to C and i can tell you that C has a lot more red spectrum vs New gen. New Gen is more crisp white . I dont remember numbers but NG higher in PAR as well Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

idleprocess

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The plastic housing on GE BrightStik bulbs gets too hot to handle with one's hands after a minute or so of operation.
 

Bentjudges

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I have a DIY full spectrum LED light on my 50 gallon SPS Zeovit reef tank and would like to add a single 39 watt T5 tube for generating some fill light. I have no complaints about the coral colors these lights produce, but would like to cut down on some of the strong shadows. I have been looking at the ATI Coral Plus and the KZ Coral light New Generation bulbs. Is there a published spectrum for the KZ bulb? How different are these two bulbs. I tried an ATI Blue plus which adds additional color pop, but adds a green glow to the overall tank color. Thanks for any information that you can provide........................Jim
 
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