{"id":289,"date":"2024-10-07T17:25:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T17:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/?p=289"},"modified":"2025-02-12T16:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T16:15:10","slug":"faulty-phillips-dimmable-bulbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/10\/07\/faulty-phillips-dimmable-bulbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Faulty Phillips dimmable bulbs."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our bathrooms have dimmable LED bulbs in open fixtures.\u00a0 One of the bathrooms has been experiencing bulb failures after a very short period of time.\u00a0 I started tracking the failures and it&#8217;s approximately 3-4 weeks between failures.\u00a0 The failure mode is the bulb will suddenly become very dim and possibly occasionally flicker; even at full brightness setting.<\/p>\n<p>I tried changing the dimmer (from a Leviton LED compatible to a Lutron LED compatible) and that didn&#8217;t prolong the bulb life.\u00a0 I started marking the bulbs with sharpie when I installed them and the last 3 bulbs failed on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>7\/18\/2024<\/li>\n<li>8\/8\/2024<\/li>\n<li>9\/10\/2024<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-292\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135616320-771x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"665\" height=\"883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135616320-771x1024.jpg 771w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135616320-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135616320-768x1020.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135616320-1157x1536.jpg 1157w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135616320-1542x2048.jpg 1542w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135616320-660x877.jpg 660w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135616320-scaled.jpg 1928w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-293\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135545143-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1928\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135545143-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135545143-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135545143-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135545143-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135545143-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135545143-2048x1542.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240926_135545143-660x497.jpg 660w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The two bathrooms have the same fixtures and dimmers so why was it only in one bathroom that this started happening?\u00a0 Turns out because the other bathroom also has Phillips dimmable bulbs but they&#8217;re an older model.\u00a0 (The type that has a plastic base with a plastic globe glued to the base).\u00a0 The new type are all glass so the electronics are inside the edison fixture.<\/p>\n<p>I decided to dismantle one of the failed bulbs and here is what I found.\u00a0 \u00a0To me the failure mode is obvious.\u00a0 The glue used to attach the base to the bulb has flowed onto the heat-sensitive driver chips and covered them up preventing them from dissipating heat.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve tried contacting Phillips Canada and I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;re all surprised to discover they could care less.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-290\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241007_172104642-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1928\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241007_172104642-scaled.jpg 1928w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241007_172104642-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241007_172104642-771x1024.jpg 771w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241007_172104642-768x1020.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241007_172104642-1157x1536.jpg 1157w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241007_172104642-1542x2048.jpg 1542w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241007_172104642-660x877.jpg 660w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1928px) 100vw, 1928px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Update 10\/15\/24:<\/p>\n<p>One of the bulbs in the other bathroom did fail. I thought it was one of the older style but when I pulled it, I realized it was one of the same as the others that are failing.\u00a0 \u00a0This one went in 03\/27\/2024 and lasted until 10\/13\/2024.\u00a0 It lasted a lot longer (though still not the lifetime I&#8217;ve come to expect from an LED bulb). It appears to have the same over-gluing problem but it was clearly clocked a bit when the glue went on so it didn&#8217;t displace the thermal paste as it did on the above bulb.\u00a0 \u00a0Probably explains why the increased life.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-296\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_124638832-771x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"665\" height=\"883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_124638832-771x1024.jpg 771w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_124638832-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_124638832-768x1020.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_124638832-1157x1536.jpg 1157w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_124638832-1542x2048.jpg 1542w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_124638832-660x877.jpg 660w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_124638832-scaled.jpg 1928w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-297\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_123859747.MP_-771x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"665\" height=\"883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_123859747.MP_-771x1024.jpg 771w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_123859747.MP_-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_123859747.MP_-768x1020.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_123859747.MP_-1157x1536.jpg 1157w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_123859747.MP_-1542x2048.jpg 1542w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_123859747.MP_-660x877.jpg 660w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20241015_123859747.MP_-scaled.jpg 1928w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Edit 02\/12\/2024<\/p>\n<p>Had another of these bulbs fail.\u00a0 This one was installed in 09\/09\/2024 and lasted until 02\/10\/2025.\u00a0 Not quite a record and still pretty dismal.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve since switched to Amazon Basics dimmable bulbs and haven&#8217;t had any failures but it&#8217;s only been around 3 months.\u00a0 They&#8217;re also around half the price though.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-312\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20250212_161303490-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"665\" height=\"374\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20250212_161303490-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20250212_161303490-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20250212_161303490-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20250212_161303490-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20250212_161303490-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PXL_20250212_161303490-660x371.jpg 660w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our bathrooms have dimmable LED bulbs in open fixtures.\u00a0 One of the bathrooms has been experiencing bulb failures after a very short period of time.\u00a0 I started tracking the failures and it&#8217;s approximately 3-4 weeks between failures.\u00a0 The failure mode is the bulb will suddenly become very dim and possibly occasionally flicker; even at full&#8230; <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/10\/07\/faulty-phillips-dimmable-bulbs\/\">Continue reading &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drivel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":313,"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions\/313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beer.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}