Clarke Echols (199.182.92.44)
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 6:03 pm: | |
Pull one of the bulbs and look at it. If the inside is coated and shiny like a mirror, replace the bulbs. When bulbs are powered, the hot filament boils off tungsten atoms into the vaccuum inside the bulb. Those atoms drift around in the empty space until they either fall back onto the hot filament or attach themselves to the glass envelope. As metal evaporates off of the filament, it becomes smaller, which means the resistance goes up and less current flows; hence, less power consumed. Less power consumed means less light output.
If the bulbs are not coated on the inside of the glass, check the voltage at the lamp. 12-volt lamps should be getting 12-13.7 volts; 24 volt lamps should be getting 24-28 volts across the filament if the batteries are at correct charge and there are no wiring or rheostat problems. |