The danger is that if the contacts on the base of the bulb are designed
differently, you could dead short the circuit.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"v" wrote in message
...
On 24 Aug 2004 09:48:30 -0700, someone wrote:

I've seen some mixed messages, even from labs and government sites,
about whether "normal" CFL bulbs can be used safely in 3-way lamps.


What's the danger? Seriously. The 3-way switch doesn't change the
voltage, it just steers the power to one, the other, or both of two
"hot" contacts on the bulb (and there is a common neutral).

One filament is "low", the second is "medium", and both together is
"high". What is the danger to the bulb? Now, I'm not sure if it ends
up working "off-on-off-on" or "off-off-on-on" and I suppose this could
be a danger to a person putting their finger in the socket thinking it
is a regualr bulb that is really "off". But that's not because its a
CFL.

???

-v.