We have two pendant lights in our b

[MotorCity]

We have two pendant lights in our bathroom with a halogen bulb, no dimmer switch, but they are both on the same switch.

They have been working fine for the last three years, then one of the bulbs went out. I replaced the bulb, and about three days later we noticed a buzzing sound coming from the fixture. Then the buzzing stopped and the light now flickers on and off randomly. My first thought was that the replacement bulb was bad, so I put in another new bulb and the same thing happened. I pulled the bulb out and noticed that it had two vertical metallic contacts about 1/4" long. One of the contacts looked brand new, but the other one looked like it had a black residue on both sides that covered the top half of the contact. (I tried to clean the residue by applying rubbing alcohol but it did not work.)

In an attempt to stop the flickering, I gently pushed the bulb up into the socket (with a cloth), thinking that the bulb was not in firm contact with the socket. As long as I was pushing the bulb into the socket, there was no flickering.

I made a special effort not to get any of my fingerprints on the replacement halogen bulb. The other light works fine and both have worked ok for the last 3 years which leads me to believe that the house wiring is not the problem. I went to the store where I bought them and they basically said there was nothing they could do for me since I bought them three years ago (although they were more than happy to try and sell me another $5 halogen bulb).

I am hoping its not something internally wrong with the light, because that would probably mean buying a new light or replacing both lights all together.

Anybody have any suggestions or ideas what the problem might be?

 

[Compositepro]

I have experienced the same problem. These bulbs and the electrical contacts get very hot and the contacts oxidize over time. New bulbs will soon, or immediately, have the same problem. The only solution is to replace the socket, which usually means the whole light fixture.

 

[MotorCity]

Thanks compositepro, that's what I was afraid of. It probably doesn't help the cause that these lights are in a bathroom subject to shower steam, but we do run the fan when showering.