In article , Meat Plow wrote:
On Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:27:01 +1100, F Murtz
wrote:

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.

"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.

Your lucky in Australia they are in the process of banning incandescent
lamps we wont be able to buy them

There will come a day in the USA when you will not be able to purchase
incandescent lamps. I think it's already in law.


There is a need for instant on lamps for safety.

It can take a few minutes for my outside lamps to come on, and I'll
miss the burgular. I'm switching on 6 CFL's for my porches and driveway.


greg