Conventional Fixtures GLA LAMPS won't fit

artdeco18

Member
Well this is an interesting issue. We have a bunch of Strand 2xxx LEKOs. We had been using FLK lamps for them until I read the threads on here that suggested using the GLA instead. So we ordered 6 to try them out. My tech told me after that they are very difficult to install. The issue isn't the pins, but the base which seems to be too big for the slot.

I'm guessing the base is too big and am thinking it's a manufacturer issue. Has anyone that uses the GLA in these instruments encountered the same problem? Rather than keep trying different brands, I thought it easier to simply ask if there a brand that actually fits?

thanks
 
I think older runs of sockets had this issue. I don't think it was necessarily a length or width issue, but the fact that the corners are different. I believe it's just because your sockets were designed before the GLA was made available and that particular manufacturer's sockets happen to be incompatible (I want to say that the socket's corners were rounder than that of the lamp). Not sure which manufacturer combination it was, but I've had this happen before too.
 
*Meekly raises his hand*. Mea culpa. That would be us. Guilty as charged.

Back in 2007 we had a few production lots where our ceramic supplier mis-read a 3 as an 8 on a spec. in the curvature of the base, and we had a few G9.5 bases that didn't fit into about 10% of the sockets on the market (some older TP220 ones with VERY tight tolerances). It didn't get noticed at first because they still fit in the other 90% out there... We eventually switched later that year over to all aluminum G9.5s to avoid the issue in future runs. We haven't had any problems since.

Question to the original poster is- Are they Ceramic bases, and if so, are they OSRAM? If the answer is no to either one, then your issue is most likely the socket itself being made on the extremely low end of a tolerance. FLKs and GLAs use the exact same G9.5 base, so it's not the base under normal circumstances.
 
The base is the part of the lamp that goes into the socket. And DELO72 has used both terms correctly in the above post. Unlike (some) other bulb experts.

I thought this thread was going to be about the envelope being too big to fit thru the ERS's reflector hole.
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For the record, when referring to the socket, I was talking about the actual part of the instrument (just in case it's me that derekleffew is talking about ;) ). I had been under the impression that the older sockets were built differently when I had the issue (old light/socket, new lamp. Harder to blame problems on new things). Didn't realize it was an issue with the porcelain!
 
Lets's be nice now in very important info given and perhaps not stessed enough condition of lamp socket/base in good condition as perhaps a factor. Base, socket, lampholder, etc. there is a lot of sway both for lamp's end and fitting that can be valid for use or locally a term known. Even the makers of lamp sockets at times use different terms.
 
I have had metal base lamps that were a very tight fit into that socket. it made me cranky because they were sylvania lamps going into sylvania sockets. They fit but it was a real struggle to get them in and back out when it came time to change them.
there was a very slight deformation in the metal base, a bulge on the long side.
 
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I have had metal base lamps that were a very tight fit into that socket. it made me cranky because they were sylvania lamps going into sylvania sockets. They fit but it was a real struggle to get them in and back out when it came time to change them.
there was a very slight deformation in the metal base, a bulge on the long side.

I prefer that over ceramic only, at least with the metal shell it's easier to clean up when the ceramic crumbles when your pulling a bad lamp.
 
I'm not sure who the manufacturer was of the lamps that didn't fit... I wasn't involved in the lamp change other than to verify that the base was too big for the socket... and yes.. it was a ceramic base so may have been just a bad lot.... However, We switched suppliers and are using OSRAM now and they go in just dandy.... so problem is solved...

Thanks everyone...
 
Lets's be nice now in very important info given and perhaps not stessed enough condition of lamp socket/base in good condition as perhaps a factor. Base, socket, lampholder, etc. there is a lot of sway both for lamp's end and fitting that can be valid for use or locally a term known. Even the makers of lamp sockets at times use different terms.

The funny thing is I have this confusion with my German colleagues all the time. The reason is that the German word for the lamp "base" is Sockel, so when we say "Socket" they think we mean base instead of lampholder!
 
I'm not sure who the manufacturer was of the lamps that didn't fit... I wasn't involved in the lamp change other than to verify that the base was too big for the socket... and yes.. it was a ceramic base so may have been just a bad lot.... However, We switched suppliers and are using OSRAM now and they go in just dandy.... so problem is solved...

Thanks everyone...

*Phew!* It was still probably us and some of our old product from that 2007 period. Glad it's all fixed for you now though!
 

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