Impact Resistance of Light Bulbs

Those have long ago been abandoned for LED lights which do not break....I have a floor mount set and portable lanterns and flashlights, it depends on the application I guess....Just to replace the bulb in an existing work light is easy enough...but beware of the color vs lumens....the higher color number 6000k is very glarey, but really what you want for work space...the 4000k is much easier on the eyes....I guess the lumens is something older people need to be higher to see well....I would compromise a little and go with this one....16watt , 1600 lumens, 5000k color, 4 for $25

https://www.ledmyplace.com/products/4-pack-a21-dimmable-led-light-bulb-16w-energy-star-5000k-daylight-white-1600-lumens-e26

I suspected LEDs, because something said "more durable," but with no specifics. Another source said they would displace all the others.

Well the 'bulb' part is unbreakable plastic, and the diode part is solid....The only one I've seen fail was a bad electrical connection...

I recently found a LED bulb that had been discarded because it had been smashed almost beyond recognition. I put in socket, applied power and it works fine.

I had one LED bulb go out due to a drop. I opened it up and a tiny power supply transformer had pulled itself loose from the circuit card. I resoldered the leads and glued the transformer back down and it came back to life.

Interesting! I've disassembled a fair number of various 120V LED lamps, and I have yet to see one that included a transformer. Do you recall what brand? Most of the failures I've seen were due to poor solder joints or failure of the driver transistor/chip/IC.

The bulb in question was a shop light tube and was sold under the Feit brand name. I have yet to cut into a bulb LED light.

Ah! I'm the other way around. I started buying LED bulb-type lamps essentially as soon as they became available, and did have failures in several of the early ones. Ditto for the PAR type lamps; I'm still using a PAR where half the 60 LEDs went out several years ago. I also have 4 pairs of the LED shop lights (which are great!), but haven't had one fail.

I also picked up a defective red LED stoplight 13 or so years ago. It had a single bad solder joint, and a couple hundred perfectly good red LEDs.

Depends on the particular bulb, but some LED lights are very robust. Most CFLs are not.

I found another way to burn out an incandescent work light. I was working in my attic where there is a lot of loose thermal insulation between the rafters. The light fell into the insulation and burned out immediately.

The strength of tungsten depends on grain size (horizontal axis) and temperature as shown in the graph below. As you can see, whatever the grain size, it is weaker when hot...

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00768229

CFL's, to me, have always looked like an accident ready to happen. They don't look durable and you have the safety problem of mercury and maybe the phosphors. So, IMHO, LED wins hands down.

"LED lights are resistant to vibrations, shock, and impact from external objects. Their durability makes them ideal for exposure to weather, wind, and rain. They are even strong enough to be a good choice when there is a concern of vandalism, traffic related impact or in construction sites."

https://www.thinlightusa.com/news/durability-of-led-lights/

CFL's are basically small, spiraled, florescent lamps...glass breaks, solid silicon doesn't (so much).

There is very little silicon in a standard LED. Most of it is Epoxy or some similar resin. Silicon is brittle, resins usually much less so, so they are very durable. Virtually all of the LED failures I've investigated were due to bad solder connections or problems in the driver circuits. The LEDs themselves almost never fail unless something causes an excessive current.

Factor in that when you break a CFL, you're supposed to go into hazmat mode. Yet another unintended consequence that's been foisted on us.

jhammond

If you do not find that an LED based bulb is an acceptable alternative, there are "rough service" rated regular incandescent bulbs that are (or were) available. The difference is basically in the number of supports inside the bulb for the filament as the trick in making a bulb survive such conditions of use is to get the filament immobilized so it does not shake. There are also "locomotive" rated bulbs that may also meet your need.

I found that a ceiling fan bulb is very robust too. I didn't have another rough service bulb, so I tried one. It lasted several years in my trouble light.

Still, that's an incandescent lamp, that puts most of its energy out in the form of heat. Have you never burned yourself on a work light? I certainly have, but never since I switched to LEDs. LEDs are COOL and extremely shock resistant!

I've dropped my mechanics work light and the filament of an incandescent bulb breaks every time. I've replaced the bulb with a spiral LED and it has survived tens of drop tests. All drops have been less than 3 feet, but I'm happy when I don't have to stop working to find a replacement bulb

I'd go for LED. The incandescent bulb's weak point is the filament and then the glass bulb. CFL is usually limited by the glass tube and then the electrical connections. The LED actually has to have an electrical connection torn loose to fail.