Lighting - Three pronged Bayonet fitting ?

Channel Hopper

Channel Hopper

Suffering fools, so you don't have to.
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My Satellite Setup
A little less analogue, and a lot more crap.
My Location
UK
I'm currently on a job checking over the satellite system and the client has asked me about two light fittings which have blown.


These look normal on the outside, a landing light top and bottom of the stairs with what look like normal efficiency bulbs fitted, but both the bulb and cartridge are odd (at least to me) in that they have a three pronged bayonet fitting.

I cant find any bullb in the local shops that has the same fitting, could I simply change the sockets over to the usual two prong variety, or is there somethig special about the house wiring as a whole ?
 
Interesting, learnt something new today. I'd never seen or heard about BC3. Reading other websites suggests they are no longer fitted in new builds now that the EU has pretty much banned normal incandescent bulbs. Seems like a short lived, worthless and inconvenient fitting!
 
Aren't these halogen bulbs just as bad as the incandescent ones as far as energy consumption goes?
 
To be quickly consigned to the dustbin of history. And I hope that the manufacturers are stuck with a warehouse of useless bulbs for trying to stitch people up!

Halogen bulbs are slightly more efficient than standard incandescent bulbs but not as good as CFLs. And nowwhere near as good as LEDs, of course.
 
Tri-pin bayonet isn't a new thing, I think they used them on MagiCoal electric fires, so you had to pay extra for the red-painted bulbs to keep the magicoal glow working because a normal red bulb wouldn't have fitted... :lol:

Still, like the link above, enterprising Roger the Bodger types made a workaround using off-thee-shelf parts and fitted regular bulbs instead... :lol:
 
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