I once wanted to do a starlight
effect on the cheap so I fitted a
360Q lamp
base cap with 1,000w FEL lamp to a tin can with a bunch of pin hole punctures in it sealing the lamp
base. Actually worked somewhat for a while but that lamp, the can and the lamp
base definitely did overheat. Also due to the size of the
filament, the pin-prick holes showed more like lightning lines
thru them than points of light.
This being said, yes it is possible to overheat a lamp and it often depends upon the
filament if not even manufacturer of lamp as to how
shock resistant it is.
On touching, it all depends. Things like how much actual oil and other things were on the skin that burn off cleanly, burn off leaving a charring, or don’t burn off at all. For instance, should your
Leko lamp be submitted to a good amount of oil based
fog, it could be much more damaging than some dust, than again the oil from the
fog would be a little more covering of the entire
bulb in retaining heat all around it.
This more important relates to how much heat will be absorbed by the contaminate in holding more heat or even as possible passing more of it given a certain amount of etching of the quartz glass. Internal pressures of gas and temperatures the lamp burns at, much the speed the pressure built up at will than have a large
effect on a lamp either exploding or the internal gasses within the lamp in acting like wind doing things like bubbling the glass or deforming the
filament plane. This will even be the case with a
metal halide lamp given a double
envelope of glass over the arc source since the outer
globe will be tremendously cooler on say a 250w arc source than a single
globe 5,000
Watt halogen source for instance.
There are many ways a lamp can explode, I even have some examples of filaments shooting out of the
globe as if a bullet passed
thru them with glass holding the shape of the
filament passing
thru it. On the opposing side of the
bulb from where the
filament and gas shot out of the lamp, the
bulb had puckered due to the atmosphere leaving the lamp. Most frequently by “finger bleeping” a lamp, you will find things like the lamp having white finger prints on it, a dark spot or nothing seen. Most frequently the effects on the lamp will be the
filament pushed away from that finger print if the
filament was parallel to the finger print. This pushing away from the fingerprint will stretch the
filament out and even cause it to touch the glass even
bubble and melt
thru the glass to the
point that the
filament will at times still operate for a while even though it’s encased in a
filament sized
bubble of glass. Extra heat retention can also have dire effects on the
pinch seal which is the
point the lead in wires to the lamp pass
thru the glass in going to the
base. If this area gets too hot it’s moly foil wires can melt, the glass can pinch, the extra pressure can force it’s way
thru etc. in making the lamp fail. This
point of the gasses escaping the lamp where the
filament still works for a moment will often be seen by pretty colors the lamp changes such as deep purples and silvers as the metal and gasses in the lamp vaporize. The glass frequently at this
point will also
bubble up and out in direct proportion to the hotest part of the lamp it’s
filament as it goes
super nova in no longer having sufficient pressure or being exposed to oxygen. This is an explosion in the lamp, but normally the glass is sufficient to retain it. If the glass were touched and oil is making that part of the
bulb hottest, it’s possible this area might explode outward given it’s already very hot in retaining heat. The extra heat and pressure on the weaker part of the glass or any scratches in the
bulb could cause it to explode from that
point.
Lamps otherwise exploding will more frequently come from over-voltaging to a large degree,
shock on an already weak
filament or infrequently at the end of the lamp
filament life when the
filament wears away to the extent it breaks but there is sufficient amperage and proximity, plus heat in the lamp to make the
incandescent lamp into a mini arc lamp for the briefest of moments while the
voltage jumps the gap between the broken parts of the
filament. This causes a huge flash of light and lots of heat and pressure. Given a above finger fucked part of the lamp, or other weak spots this could cause explosions.
On the Ushio website, there was once a very good pamphlet from their Dr.
Bulb about the end of lamps which went into more
clear details about these things. Given all of this, there is lots of ways a lamp can explode much less touching a lamp will only be a factor in it but probably not the direct cause. It’s also very rare to happen. I agree it probably was not the kid’s fault.
BTL lamps are standard 6"
Fresnel types, Mayham is both using something at 240v and at 650w my guess would be something in a studio
Fresnel line of
fixture not a
stage fixture. The BTL lamp has a very heavy duty
filament which is very
shock resistant by design. The largest
shock problem with it often would be the lamp cracking at the
point it enters it’s
porcelain base at the
pinch seal when hot and the glass is most fragile. When cool, this lamp is a very strong lamp type, it’s also at 120v under a lot less due to dimming, and 2,000 hours normal life at full
voltage, is a very long life lamp. Much longer than the getting to be standard 115v lamp rated at 300 hours. Get the
point on why it lasts longer? The
Leko lamp also dependant upon lamp will also have a much more fragile
filament in being a more compact size necessary because of optics but at least the same wattage.