Meat Plow writes:

On Mon, 1 Dec 2008 11:41:06 -0700, "learner"
wrote:

I agree. Same here. I saw the big sparks and smoke. I changed back to
incandescence. I would not use it even it is free.

Thing is the quality has improved dramatically over the past 6 years.
Especially with the push to outlaw incandescent.
However I still wont leave these on while unattended unless they are
outside as my security lighting consists of the latest 23 watt slim
socket design lamps branded Sylvania CF23EL/MINITWIST.
These tested pretty robust surviving outdoors completely enclosed
in a globe as porch lights and in a security light fixture designed
for incandescent floods out in the rain and now snow. That fixture is
a motion detector but it was frequently placed in the manual on mode
as I was having some minor problems with juveniles trespassing and
wanting to use our trampoline.


"Meat Plow" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 1 Dec 2008 17:53:16 -0000, "ian field"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
I only two of them in my house.One in my kitchen and the other one in my
bathroom, I never turn them off.Just now I was in my kitchen getting me
a ''cold one''.That flourscent light bulb blipped a couple of times.What
does that suppose to mean?
cuhulin


Maybe a "brown-out" on the power line?

The one I leave on 24/7 usually conspires to fail when I'm out. Common
failure modes are the tube or the mains in reservoir electrolytic,
typically
they start flickering or just go "phutt".


Back in 2003 I saw a 13 watt Osram CFL end its life in bursts of
sparks and smoke through a hole melted in the side of the ballast
container. I called Sylvania/Osram and they offered a replacement free
of charge. I told them no thanks I prefer to not have my home burn
down if another one of these failed while I wasn't present to
disconnect its power source. That scared me away from CFLs for a long
time.

I've had one outside for a couple years now. It's only semi-protected
from direct rain, but not enclosed. Temperatures from 0F to 100F over
the seasons. Controlled by a timer, on about 6 hours a day.

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