Electrical – What’s happened to this light fixture

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I have a summer house outside in the United Kingdom and yesterday I noticed that one of the internal lights had stopped working.

I assumed a blown bulb since the other lights still worked.

Today I've gone to change the bulb and removed the light fixture and found it as pictured.

These lights are probably nearly 15 years old. What's happened here?

To me it looks like a fire at some stage, however it was working up until around 2 weeks ago and I'm not sure how long it has been like this.

I will get an electrician either way since I have no idea however I'm just wondering what's happened?

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Best Answer

Since the bulb was mounted under the wiring, over the years the heat from the bulb has baked the insulation on the wires.

It may have been overbulbed (new word, I called it) meaning a 100 watt instead of a 60 or 75 watt. This would generate more heat than it was designed for and cause the fixture to fail.

Good luck!