Strange light bulb behavior

[mathematic]

Late night thunderstorm - lightning appeared to hit less than a few hundred feet from house.  Immediate effect  - light in hall (ordinary bulb dimmed) went out, although electric power was still on (electric clock still working).  Ten minutes later light in hall comes back on.  How can an ordinary light bulb behave this way?

 

[Sensei]

...your apartment must be haunted.. call Ghostbusters..

Not once, I took to hands damaged light bulb and started shaking it watching broken damaged wire inside, and voila, it reconnected (just mechanically).. Light bulb could be used for longer.. It depends on in which place wire broke up. If somewhere in the middle, there is large chance to reconnect them after shaking. When wire is broke up, in low pressure or in vacuum, it shakes by itself, for long long time after event, and can reconnect by itself.

 

[Strange]

1 minute ago, Sensei said:

Not once, I took to hands damaged light bulb and started shaking it watching broken damaged wire inside, and voila, it reconnected (just mechanically).. Light bulb could be used for longer.. It depends on in which place wire broke up. If somewhere in the middle, there is large chance to reconnect them after shaking. When wire is broke up, in low pressure or in vacuum, it shakes by itself, for long long time after event, and can reconnect by itself.

That sounds plausible. I have taken a non-working (halogen) bulb out, looked at carefully and could see no fault with the filament. So I put it back and it started working. A few minutes later it failed permanently.

[Sensei]

6 minutes ago, Strange said:

That sounds plausible. I have taken a non-working (halogen) bulb out, looked at carefully and could see no fault with the filament. So I put it back and it started working. A few minutes later it failed permanently.

...I used fixed by me (traditional) light bulbs for months..

 

[Strange]

1 minute ago, Sensei said:

...I used fixed by me (traditional) light bulbs for months..

Maybe because halogens run hotter ?

[Phi for All]

My lights are on a different circuit than the plugs I would use for an electric clock. Is it possible the breaker/fuse was tripped for the lights but the breaker/fuse for the plugs was still on after the lightning strike? If this is an apartment building, perhaps it took someone ten minutes to check the panel.

[studiot]

8 hours ago, Phi for All said:

My lights are on a different circuit than the plugs I would use for an electric clock. Is it possible the breaker/fuse was tripped for the lights but the breaker/fuse for the plugs was still on after the lightning strike? If this is an apartment building, perhaps it took someone ten minutes to check the panel.

Even if it's wrong, that's a better thought than any I had about the question +1

 

One comment, though.

The only indication that power was 'still on' was that an electric clock was still working.

What electric clock and was anything else working?

I have several electric clocks (cooker, electric curtains, heat pump controller etc) that all have internal batteries so will remain working during power cuts.

Edited April 18, 2019 by studiot

[Bufofrog]

How about the light is not screwed on all the way and slight movements can either make the light bulb connect or disconnect.

Of course the ghost theory is still a possibility...

[mathematic]

Light bulb is ordinary (old fashioned) incandescent.  House is private home - no one else to handle circuit breaker.   Filament breaking and reconnect seems only possible, even if improbable, explanation.

[Carrock]

Old mains clocks, such as mathematic may have, had a synchronous motor and were dependent on mains frequency for accuracy. IIRC they had a tendency not to start, or to run backwards, so they were likely designed to work at lower than normal voltage, so that they'd be reliable at normal voltage.

So the dimmed bulb may be normal, while the clock continued to run on a very low voltage.