Appin wrote:
The message
from "Man at B&Q" contains these words:


I have dissected some recently. The Philips 11W ones were completely
dead, but the tubes themselves showed no discolouration at the ends,
so I took a look at the ballasts
The reservoir capacitors have gone high ESR, and are bulging
at the top.http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/infoweb/philips_cfl.jpg

Were they in enclosed fittings, or installed hangind down? Both are
killers for these sorts of lamps.

Let's get into the real world. Most lamps are installed "hanging down"
-- i.e. cap up -- and a great many are installed in enclosed fittings.
If lamps are not developed sufficiently to be reliable in such
orientations and environments, they'd not developed sufficiently to
replace incandescent lamps.

SSSHH.

Don't confuse religion with facts.