# Light Bulbs Unscrewing By Themselves



## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

The bulbs in my ceiling fan unscrew after just a few weeks. From what I have read, it seems this is from thermal cycling. Would using LED bulbs possibly solve the problem?


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

It might there’s a lot less heat If that doesn’t work try using the tiniest touch of the lightest level thread locker.
I’m talking a drop that will make a spot on the threads the size of a punched hole in a three ring binder
Available at your local hardware store


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

in all my 88 years I've never had a light bulb "unscrew" itself. Some have locked up so hard they broke when replaced and had to have long-nosed pliers to remove them. Most come in and out easily.

I'd say that perhaps they are not being screwed in tight enough.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Same here. 
Screw them in tighter.....then check your _fan wobble._


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

They are tightened. A search of the web indicates this is a very common problem, especially with ceiling fans. It's thought the thermal cycling causes them to come loose and then the vibration unscrews them.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Lightbulbs are only rated for a torque of about 12 inch pounds


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## poppy (Feb 21, 2008)

AmericanStand said:


> Lightbulbs are only rated for a torque of about 12 inch pounds


That's why I always use a torque wrench to put them in. It doesn't take much to loosen a bulb. We have one of those white porcelain light fixtures in a closet with a pull string. My wife would tell me I needed to change the bulb a couple times a year. It was always just loose. Every time she reached in the door to turn it on she would pull the string at an angle instead of straight down and the drag of the string against the bulb would eventually work the bulb loose. I finally took the time to turn the fixture around and it stopped it. I probably should have been an electrical engineer.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

I wouldn't recommend using LED bulbs if you turn the lights/fan on and off with a remote. LED bulbs emit a frequency that interferes with radio frequency signals. You'll always be able to turn the fan or light on with the remote, but turning either one off will be difficult if the lights are shining. I found this out when I tried LED lights in my garage door opener.


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

we have a fan in the kitchen, living and dining rooms.
all three have three LED bulbs. No problem at all with the remotes.. and the bulbs stay screwed in..


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

[email protected] said:


> we have a fan in the kitchen, living and dining rooms.
> all three have three LED bulbs. No problem at all with the remotes.. and the bulbs stay screwed in..


Maybe it's only garage door openers that experience the issue I have with the LED bulbs and not ceiling fans with remotes. It appears they are now selling a special LED bulb for use with automatic garage door openers that do not cause interference with the remotes.
https://www.overheaddoorco.com/blog/led-light-bulbs-for-garage-door-openers


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Cabin Fever said:


> Maybe it's only garage door openers that experience the issue I have with the LED bulbs and not ceiling fans with remotes. It appears they are now selling a special LED bulb for use with automatic garage door openers that do not cause interference with the remotes.
> https://www.overheaddoorco.com/blog/led-light-bulbs-for-garage-door-openers


My garage has an two arrays of LED lights. Garage door opener works fine.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Moon, your house is haunted by a mischievous spirit.


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

super glue


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

HDRider said:


> My garage has an two arrays of LED lights. Garage door opener works fine.


That's great. Mine don't. My LED bulbs are screwed right into the opener, one on each side. The Opener works fine when the light is off. If the light is on, I cannot be more than 20 feet away for the remote to work. If I screw in incandescent bulbs the remote controls the opener just fine from 75 feet away. If you google "automatic garage door opener and LED bulbs" you'll see that it is an issue with many people.


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## D-BOONE (Feb 9, 2016)

just simply use the fix all "get a bigger hammer"


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## StL.Ed (Mar 6, 2011)

Do the bulbs unscrew for both directions of running the fan, or just one direction? If it only happens for one direction of the fan, I think I would agree with farmrbrown about wobble being a probable cause.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

How many people does it take?



geo


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## aart (Oct 20, 2012)

Have had this happen in a porch light. Just had to tighten back up once in a while.
Stopped when I replaced incandescent(it finally actually burnt out) with CFL.


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

I believe vibration can cause bulbs to loosen.
I constantly have to tighten the bulb in my trouble cords.
A bulb in a socket close to a door that is used often, like a porch light. 
in a ceiling fan where almost all of them have a certain amount of vibration.
in a ceiling light where there is a floor above..


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## Zoomyn (Apr 12, 2019)

For the very brave : ) In the bottom of the bulb sockets there are the center contacts that should* have some spring action which gets crushed by screwing in the bulb, this force keeps some minimum of push-back friction on the bulb base threads wherever they happen to play in with the formed socket threads and so resist unwinding -- also having the additional contact time while the bulb is rotating also acts to wipe both surfaces clean of grime or a little surface oxidation...

Anyhow - the springy copper contact often just reverts into a solid nub and needs to be taught it is a spring again, there is a hinge side and a loose side so a gentle lift of the loose side so there is 3/16"~ hanging in the air on that side and you should be good to go...

Oh yeah, be gentle, lots of little lifts, definitely not the tear fan off ceiling complete with bright blue arc flash adjustment when forgetting to turn power off.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I put LED bulbs in almost 2 months ago and they have not come unscrewed. They seemed to fit much tighter than the incandescent bulbs. Maybe I can find some higher quality incandescent bulbs that will fit tighter and stay screwed in. The LED's don't give off enough light.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

MoonRiver said:


> I put LED bulbs in almost 2 months ago and they have not come unscrewed. They seemed to fit much tighter than the incandescent bulbs. Maybe I can find some higher quality incandescent bulbs that will fit tighter and stay screwed in. The LED's don't give off enough light.


Go with a higher wattage light. 
I bought a 200 W (Not equivalent, actual watts) LED light for my front porch and found it was blinding ! I now use it in a shop where it has replaced several fluorescent lights


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

AmericanStand said:


> Go with a higher wattage light.
> I bought a 200 W (Not equivalent, actual watts) LED light for my front porch and found it was blinding ! I now use it in a shop where it has replaced several fluorescent lights


Goodness, wont that give you a sunburn? Or have you spray painted yourself with orange paint as a protective layer, like is currently in vogue.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

MoonRiver said:


> I put LED bulbs in almost 2 months ago and they have not come unscrewed. They seemed to fit much tighter than the incandescent bulbs. Maybe I can find some higher quality incandescent bulbs that will fit tighter and stay screwed in. The LED's don't give off enough light.


Where do you folk find incandescents that dont burn out within a month if not days? That was why I went to alternatives, incandescents (only made in China those last years) got too expensive due to super short life. Only way to get them to last longer was to put them on dimmer to lower voltage. Course that sort of defeated the purpose. Now when I was young, and light bulbs made in USA, you'd occasionally get a bad incandescent, but most last at least four or five years. Oh and I never saw one come loose, they would corrode to where they broke trying to unscrew them, but... Little dielectric grease on threads solves that.


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## vaillandt6 (11 mo ago)

I constantly face such a problem, and it feels like I have an unusual carving in the chandelier. Perhaps it is because I am doing well in all the other chandeliers except the living room. Recently, my brother was visiting me, and he said that I have a European chandelier and advised me to order a light bulb https://www.amazon.com/smart-light-bulb-bulbs-color/dp/B0922Q43LY/ since it will fit. I'm still waiting for delivery, but if you want, I'll take a photo of whether it suits me or not.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

MoonRiver said:


> They are tightened. A search of the web indicates this is a very common problem, especially with ceiling fans. It's thought the thermal cycling causes them to come loose and then the vibration unscrews them.


I have a light fixture mounted in the ceiling, the bulbs have never come loose. Wouldn't it be exposed to as much thermal cycling as the same bulb in a ceiling fan? If the bulbs in a ceiling fan are getting loose over time, it's because the fan is vibrating.


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## KC Rock (Oct 28, 2021)

I'd come home from traveling out of state and find the shower head fixture laying in the bottom. Think it was the natural 

vibrations of the earth. There are certain aluminum alloys that after heat treatment are left outside to temper down. I 

think thats the correct way of describing it.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

muleskinner2 said:


> I have a light fixture mounted in the ceiling, the bulbs have never come loose. Wouldn't it be exposed to as much thermal cycling as the same bulb in a ceiling fan? If the bulbs in a ceiling fan are getting loose over time, it's because the fan is vibrating.


It may just be the vibration caused by the fan.


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