Dim Glow in Incandescent Bulb When Touched

[Alexsis Miller Veal]

Hi There,
I'm completely new here and have no experience in electrical work. I have a front porch light where the bulb burnt out. I went to replace it with the light switch turned on and nothing initially happened until I touched the bulb. It had a faint glow in the filament. What's going on? I'm scared that I did something very dangerous and certainly won't be touching it again. Thanks. -- Alexsis

[LLigetfa]

There is a small current leaking to earth through your body.

[Alexsis Miller Veal]

Fabulous... Scary stuff. Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate the response.

[jimbo]

I am guessing you have an open neutral on the bulb circuit

[Alexsis Miller Veal]

What does that mean in newbie terms? Sorry, forgive me and I appreciate your patience.

[ActionDave]

There is a small current leaking to earth through your body.

Really. How is the current getting through the bulb, through him, through his footwear, and to the earth in enough quantity to make a filament glow?

[ActionDave]

What does that mean in newbie terms? Sorry, forgive me and I appreciate your patience.

There is a method of wiring circuits that if there is a problem, can cause dimming of light bulbs. I don't think we need to go there yet.

How old and what is the condition of the light fixture? What you are describing could be a poor connection between the light bulb and the socket.

[jadnashua]

There might be a loose or corroded connection and when you screwed the bulb in, you applied a little force, moved things, enough to make the partial connection. If there is corrosion, it can act like a resistor - effectively like putting a bunch of light bulbs together in series (most stuff in a house is wired in parallel so that power doesn't have to go through one thing before it gets to another, which is series - think putting two batteries in a flashlight - they are in series - if one is bad, the bulb may still light, but it won't get as much voltage and be dim).

A porch light will see lots more moisture and corrosion than a fixture installed in the house. There could be rust, too.

[Cookie]

Try another bulb.

[jimbo]

Really. How is the current getting through the bulb, through him, through his footwear, and to the earth in enough quantity to make a filament glow?

My thought was that in the absence of a neutral connection, capacitance thru his body MIGHT allow enough current. We don't know how he touched the bulb, was the glass damp, dirty, etc,

[jwelectric]

There is a small current leaking to earth through your body.

Current does not leak to earth so this is not it

[jwelectric]

My thought was that in the absence of a neutral connection, capacitance thru his body MIGHT allow enough current. We don't know how he touched the bulb, was the glass damp, dirty, etc,

If there was no neutral then no path and nothing would happen. If there was enough capacitance between the body and the bulb to cause it to glow then they are dead

[jwelectric]

What you are describing could be a poor connection between the light bulb and the socket.

We have a winner

[BobL43]

Hi There,
I'm completely new here and have no experience in electrical work. I have a front porch light where the bulb burnt out. I went to replace it with the light switch turned on and nothing initially happened until I touched the bulb. It had a faint glow in the filament. What's going on? I'm scared that I did something very dangerous and certainly won't be touching it again. Thanks. -- Alexsis

Alexis, I know you said it is an incandescant bulb, and that is has a filament, but are you SURE it is incandescent and NOT a Compact Flourescent bulb? I personally know several people who call CFL's incandescant. And the other answers of a Neutral connection being bad "might" make more sense if your bulb is a CFL. Maybe

By the way, what is the wattage of this bulb?

[BobL43]

Try another bulb.

And if that does not work try another. Rinse, lather, repeat. when to stop? could not resist. Sorry Cookie!