Most of the CFL failures here are just "it's flickering" or "won't start".
The most impressive fail (so far) was one that went *bang* in a standard-lamp, downstairs, sufficiently enthusiastically to be heard from upstairs. A loud, solid, THUD.
It wasn't immediately obvious what the sound had come from, but a sort of burnt-toast smell was traced to the lamp.
Physically: It had split the plastic case open.
Electrically: It had blown the 3/5A fuse in the plug too for good measure.
Otherwise, a couple have gone off with a loud "crack" as a transistor inside shattered. No flames.
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Mike Brown: mjb[-at-]signal11.org.uk | http://www.signal11.org.uk
It only takes one to flame up and burn a house down. I wonder how many fires were caused by them. I imagine there is some data somewhere about it. All I know is that I'm glad they are being phased out. They were a short lived disaster in many ways. After my flareups, I decided I'd rather pay a little higher electric bill than have a fire, so I went nback to incandescent. When they said they were going to remove incan bulbs from the stores, I bought a whole case of the 100W and another case of half 60W and half 75W. I had to use the 100W in my out buildings cuz those CFLs did not work in cold weather at all.
I noticed they now sell the incan bulbs again, but they are often more expensive than LED.
I actually thought it was the caps that exploded in them.... To split the plastic case, there had to be some powerful blast.
I think the CFL will go down in electrical history as a failure.
I have nothing bad to say about LED bulbs now. They were outrageously priced at first, but now they are cheap. In fact Dollar Tree stores had a 3 pack of them for $1 a few months ago, and they work fine. After trying one pack, I went and bought 7 more packs. (60W equiv ONLY). That's when I changed out all the remaining incan bulbs in my sheds and stuff.
I do wish they 100w equiv bulbs were smaller though. They wont fit in trouble lights.
One other thing, I need to learn how to identify the colors of them. I have a 6 light tracklight fixture. I was only using 4 of the lights, so I bought four PAR 60 LED bulbs which had a color similar to incan bulbs. Then I bought 2 more bulbs also PAR 60, but those are a bluish color. I dont really care for that color, so I will have to try to find the same brand as the original bulbs and replace those two. I can use them bluish ones in a shed or somewhere else, but not in my living room.
** See pic of a CFL like the ones I bought a couple of years back:
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The slit opening just below the spiral lamp opens into an air space, about 5mm deep, that removes heat from the filaments instead of having them heat the electronics enclosure.
Made in China, I paid about A$9 each for 32W & 55W versions.
Fortunately, it contained the healthy isotope* of mercury (on the contrary, the medical thermometers contained the wrong one, and hence have recently been banned by the EU).
Bets regards, Piotr
*) or maybe isolobbe, for something lobbied by the same gang...
Yup, I'm a "loopy Green activist" and it's fantastic that incandescents are being ditched ASAP on "political grounds."
The only people who get upset about it are grumpy old nerds but they're grumpy and complain-y about most things constantly so who really cares, what else is new. Certainly go shoot like 50 people over it
On the old florescent tubes, such as the common 4ft shop lights, the filament only came on during starting. I thought that was also true for CFLs, but I could be wrong. I did read that CFLs should not be put into a completely sealed dome, because of heat buildup. Hmmmmmm, Incandescent bulbs got even hotter, and they were always used inside of glass domes (globes). But incan bulbs were always more durable.
I support taking care of the environment and cutting down on pollution, etc. But those CFLs were a poor replacement. They simply did not provide adaquate light at all times, and had other problems. I was willing to cope with their delays in starting, and I was willing to change the bulbs in my out buildings with CFL in warm weather and Incan in cold. And even cope with their shorter lifespan. But when they threatened to burn down my house, emitted foul smoke and could contaminate my home with mercury when they got broken, I went back to the incan bulbs. CFL savings was not all that significant anyhow.
LEDs are a different story. They really do save a significant amount of power and work well. So far I only had one problem, where a LED bulb would not physically fit in a fixture I had. I changed the fixture. I have nioted that some of the newer LEDs are being made smaller now, so they may have fit in that fixture, but I like the new fixture better anyhow.
I've never had any issue with more expensive CFLs from name-brand manufacturers; the one that melted itself was a janky no-name China Special that I was frankly being foolish to buy. That's on me I guess, in the US at least there seems to have historically been little political will to keep that crap from flooding the market, it doesn't mean that the technology is intrinsically bad.
Now that it's ~10 years later and I'm not a broke student anymore and know a bit better I always pay more to get the real stuff from name brands with some level of accountability.
I get my 100 watt incandescent equivalent LED bulbs, GreenLite, from Ocean State Job Lot, about $5 for two. I can hardly tell the difference between them and an incandescent once they're in a shade and they can be used in enclosed fixtures, too, they run extremely cool.
I get four foot LED tubes for formerly fluorescent fixtures in the workshop and kitchen, from GE, $8 per at Wal Mart last I looked.
** The filament usually gets a more current during starting and quick start types give it a lot more. The are big variations between various models.
If you want one that runs overnight or 24/7, pick a slow starter.
This link has some schematics and pics of CFLs on sale about 10 years ago.
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A few examples have PTCs in the lamp drive to throttle back filament current when the lamp has warmed.
Component quality is typically on the ragged edge, regular polyester (green) caps and low temp electros are not up to the 10,000 hour lifespans being claimed.
It varied; some ballast/starter systems turned the filament down, but not off. And CFLs usually have a bit of radioactive gas for a starter (not much, and the half-life is a decade or so), so don't need heater power.
If you have CFLs in a drawer, remember to use 'em up before the decade's over.
CFLs all have heaters party covered with with a coating like that used on the cathodes of vacuum tubes. These must heat and emit electrons for the tube to start.
Magnetic ballast fluoros typically use a glow discharge starter to generate a back emf pulse from the ballast coil to "kick start" the discharge in the mercury vapour. They also have filaments with cathode type coatings.
At least in 220-240 Vac countries, the heater is on only during the start sequence. The starter connects the two heaters in series with the inductance (ballast). When the starter opens, the current is cut and the inductive kickback strikes the tube.
Once lit, the electrons hit the anode (and ions hit the cathode), heating them up to such a temperature that allows sufficient cathode emission, so no need for any filament current any more.
Of course, the role of anode and cathode is reversed during next mains half-cycle.
** The context for my remark has been snipped - see if you can find it.
It had to do with "filaments" in CFLs running hot and heating the electroni cs in the same enclosure, given hundreds or thousands of hours.
Seeing as both ends appear exposed inside the same small enclosure - guess what ??
** A fluoro ballast is a multi Henry inductor sized to drop the supply volt age just enough to supply the correct running current for the particular tu be or combination. It is also designed NOT to saturate when full AC voltage is applied, limiting current to a safe value for the filaments during the pulse start sequence. Typically it's about double the running current.
** Fraid filaments and cathodes are one and the same. The tube's running cu rrent passes through the filaments constantly HEATING them.
The tungsten coil has a mixture of oxides applied so it acts as a good cat hode.
I have never had a CFL actually catch fire. Emit the magic smoke and/or blow a fuse yes, but nothing more than that. Kitchen spotlamps used to be the worst for plunging the house into darkness when they blew. Since swapping to almost entirely LED based they are much more reliable. YMMV
My nobody home lights of choice are now Wemo based LED devices and internet controllable with default timings set to come on at dusk and early morning matching normal use patterns in the house. Wemo may no longer be the best choice of such lamps but I was an early adopter.
The only slightly annoying thing is that you can't set "dusk" as a start time and a fixed clock stop time. This time of year you have to adjust them every couple of weeks or it stands out a bit.
After over 20 years of using CFLs never had a fire. I usually replace if it goes dim. I have some I leave on all the time. I am more cautious with lampshades now. I have run them continuously outside, either plastic encased, or a glass bulb type cover that got very hot in the sun. I prefer an enclosure. I have some upside own in ceramic holders. I'm gradually switching to LED, but trying to stay cautious with type of fixtures.
In America? Very little chance. Our entire grid runs pretty clean. For the most part dead on 60 Hertz.
Residential branch transformers *can be* set a few volts high if the farmer two tenths of a mile down at the end of the run has a lot of line drop. Mostly right on 120 VAC though.
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