Why Does an Outdoor Bulb Explode in a New Light Fixture?
Light bulbs should never explode in your fixtures. If you experience exploding light bulbs after changing out your outdoor lighting, shut off the circuit breaker that controls the light until you determine the explosion's cause. If you can't determine the cause yourself, consult a licensed electrician. The problem that causes your light bulbs to explode may become a home fire hazard if not fixed immediately. Does this Spark an idea?
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Wrong Voltage
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Household circuits operate on 120 volts, and if your old light fixture used any standard type of light bulb, it used this same voltage. Some outdoor fixtures use low-voltage lighting for safety reasons, as the reduced voltage is safer in conditions where underground wiring is exposed to damage from weather, animals and tools. If you wired a low-voltage fixture into a standard voltage line, too much power will run through your fixture, which can cause the light bulb to explode. Fixing this problem requires replacing your new light fixture with an appropriate-voltage fixture with a transformer. A simpler version of this problem involves placing a low-voltage light bulb in a standard-voltage fixture. Check the bulb package to ensure it is an appropriate voltage bulb.
Natural Oils
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If the light bulb packaging states it is a quartz or halogen lamp (these are technically not "light bulbs" at all), such as the tube style common in outdoor work lights, the oils from your hands will make it explode. If the lamp looks like it swelled up before it exploded, this is likely the cause of your explosion. Never touch this type of lamp directly. When installing it, use clean gloves or the plastic packaging from the lamp box to hold the lamp. Touch only the base (usually indicated by white porcelain or metal), never the glass. These lamps produce high heat, and any oils left on the lamp from your skin will heat faster than the rest of the glass, causing it to swell outward and eventually explode.
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Incorrect Wiring
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Improperly wired fixtures will shut down your circuit breaker rather than causing light bulb explosions in most cases, but if you have eliminated other causes, this might be the source of your electrical trouble. Most wiring is color-coded to ensure proper installation. Always wire the same color wires together, such as the black wire from your household wiring to the black wire on your fixture. Green and bare copper wire both indicated ground wires, so these are compatible. Make sure the wire connections are thoroughly covered with wire nuts or other appropriate connectors and that the insulation on your wires has no holes or other damage. The only bare metal you should see on properly connected wiring is the ground wire. If your fixture has two white wires rather than a white and a black, look for symbols such as a minus sign indicating a neutral (white) wire and a plus sign indicating a hot (black) wire, or a textured (hot/black) wire versus a smooth (white/neutral) wire and connect these appropriately.
Other Causes
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Low-quality light bulbs may explode due to poor product construction, so buy only reputable brand-name bulbs. Temperature shock also causes explosions in any type of glass, so if your new light bulb is hot, then is hit by cold rain or snow, the glass may explode.
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References
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