In article ,
"Rod Speed" writes:
Andrew Gabriel wrote
This results in some electrocutions (IIRC, about 2 in the US per
year). No one has managed to find any record of an electrocution
from a BC lampholder by touching the exposed live pins - you
probably can't get a good enough contact even with wet hands.

Of course, modern designs use an insulating thread and a
contact near the base - but BC have never had this problem.

Occasionally, I have found ES resistant to unscrewing resulting in
shearing the bulb base.

Another common problem with US ones is the whole holder unscrewing
and either coming apart, or jaming because the two part lampholder
has a finer screwthread than the lamp base thread. The EU 40mm
mounting ones seem much less prone to this (many have a ratchet
which prevents the lampholder parts ever being unscrewed).

ES grips the lamp better which means it can support heavier lamps
at strange angles, which the pin springs in a BC holder can't.

And all you have to do to eliminate the electrocution problem is to ensure
that the outer only ever gets connected to the neutral, not the active.

Won't ever happen - most countries don't preserve polarity,
and in some cases, neither main conductor is a neutral (at
or near ground potential).

This was a problem with the first CFLs with iron ballasts, but
it's not a problem with most current lamps which are much lighter.

The big PAR38s ares still around and quite commonly used in domestic situations.

Still plenty with the heavy glass too.

I was thinking of GLS and retrofit replacements.
If you go to spot/flood lamps, even R80 and R63 are always screws,
to hold them firmly.

The one that makes me smile is that the low pressure sodium (SOX)
lamps the world over are all BC. The 180W one is almost 4 foot long
and single ended and must be run horizontally. Of course, the BC
doesn't fully support the lamp - a wire loop is used too - but it
does ensure correct rotational orienation in the lantern.

--
Andrew Gabriel
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