hi folks,

i have a PLED compact floresent (well not so compact its a 6" globe)
bulb in my chandelier. resembles:
http://www.thelightbulb.co.uk/produc...id=735&green=1

all of a suddent it is not turning on any more.i put in an incandescent
bulb in that holder & it lit immediately.i put the PLED back and it
still didnt light.

what is strange is then when i slowly unscrew it, it will light for a
split second. this is why i am still optimistic that the PLED still
works. what could be wrong?


merry christmas

s wrote:

hi folks,

i have a PLED compact floresent (well not so compact its a 6" globe)
bulb in my chandelier. resembles:
http://www.thelightbulb.co.uk/produc...id=735&green=1

all of a suddent it is not turning on any more.i put in an
incandescent bulb in that holder & it lit immediately.i put the PLED
back and it still didnt light.

what is strange is then when i slowly unscrew it, it will light for
a split second. this is why i am still optimistic that the PLED
still works. what could be wrong?


merry christmas

Its dead ! The slight current causes an arc as you break the contact
causing the tube to flick on for a second.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

Baron writes:

s wrote:

hi folks,

i have a PLED compact floresent (well not so compact its a 6" globe)
bulb in my chandelier. resembles:
http://www.thelightbulb.co.uk/produc...id=735&green=1

all of a suddent it is not turning on any more.i put in an
incandescent bulb in that holder & it lit immediately.i put the PLED
back and it still didnt light.

what is strange is then when i slowly unscrew it, it will light for
a split second. this is why i am still optimistic that the PLED
still works. what could be wrong?


merry christmas

Its dead ! The slight current causes an arc as you break the contact
causing the tube to flick on for a second.

Sort of. It's probably got a bad solder connection and the twisting is
causing intermittent contact. Unless you're skilled at eelectronics
soldering, it's not worth repairing. If you are and can get the base
apart non-destructively, touch up the solder connections on the PCB.
There will likely be one or more with obvious cracks.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

i sort of 'scalped' the bulb base to get access and be able to unplug
the pcb from the twin spiral florescent tubes hidden inside the frosted
glass globe.

i touched up a few of the solder joints and re assembled without
glueing it together yet ,but it didnt work. what i did notice was if i
flick my fingernail against the glass globe it lights up and is then
able to turn on in subsequent attempts.it appears that once warmed up
it doesnt need any more flicking to turn on.

what is puzzling me is that if 1 tube has some sort of fault, why isnt
the other turning on? i have included a small 80k photo of the circuit
parts. at this stage this is more of an educational experiment rather
than a repair - i doubt i will be able to get this bulb looking neat
enough to complement my chandelier.

http://www.geocities.com/ymailus/views.jpg

thanks

On 24 Dec 2006 09:50:29 -0800, "s" wrote:

hi folks,

i have a PLED compact floresent (well not so compact its a 6" globe)
bulb in my chandelier. resembles:
http://www.thelightbulb.co.uk/produc...id=735&green=1

all of a suddent it is not turning on any more.i put in an incandescent
bulb in that holder & it lit immediately.i put the PLED back and it
still didnt light.

what is strange is then when i slowly unscrew it, it will light for a
split second. this is why i am still optimistic that the PLED still
works. what could be wrong?

Move to Australia.

Down here they give the fluorescent bulbs away free of charge as an energy saving method. ;-)

s wrote:
hi folks,

i have a PLED compact floresent (well not so compact its a 6" globe)
bulb in my chandelier. resembles:
http://www.thelightbulb.co.uk/produc...id=735&green=1

all of a suddent it is not turning on any more.i put in an incandescent
bulb in that holder & it lit immediately.i put the PLED back and it
still didnt light.

what is strange is then when i slowly unscrew it, it will light for a
split second. this is why i am still optimistic that the PLED still
works. what could be wrong?


merry christmas



I see this sort of thing fairly often. These cheap CFLs are not
particularly well built and the electronic ballasts tend to get flaky
due to cracked solder joints or bad capacitors and I've seen the symptom
you describe. Usually you can split open the ballast housing to access
the circuit board inside if you'd like to try to repair it.

s wrote:
i sort of 'scalped' the bulb base to get access and be able to unplug
the pcb from the twin spiral florescent tubes hidden inside the frosted
glass globe.

i touched up a few of the solder joints and re assembled without
glueing it together yet ,but it didnt work. what i did notice was if i
flick my fingernail against the glass globe it lights up and is then
able to turn on in subsequent attempts.it appears that once warmed up
it doesnt need any more flicking to turn on.

what is puzzling me is that if 1 tube has some sort of fault, why isnt
the other turning on? i have included a small 80k photo of the circuit
parts. at this stage this is more of an educational experiment rather
than a repair - i doubt i will be able to get this bulb looking neat
enough to complement my chandelier.

http://www.geocities.com/ymailus/views.jpg

thanks



Get back in there and touch up some more joints, it sounds like you're
on the right track.

writes:

On 24 Dec 2006 09:50:29 -0800, "s" wrote:

hi folks,

i have a PLED compact floresent (well not so compact its a 6" globe)
bulb in my chandelier. resembles:
http://www.thelightbulb.co.uk/produc...id=735&green=1

all of a suddent it is not turning on any more.i put in an incandescent
bulb in that holder & it lit immediately.i put the PLED back and it
still didnt light.

what is strange is then when i slowly unscrew it, it will light for a
split second. this is why i am still optimistic that the PLED still
works. what could be wrong?

Move to Australia.

Down here they give the fluorescent bulbs away free of charge as an energy saving method. ;-)

But still might be worth trying to keep it out of a land fill!

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

James Sweet wrote in
news:%cLjh.886$Ej7.774@trnddc02:

s wrote:

I see this sort of thing fairly often. These cheap CFLs are not
particularly well built and the electronic ballasts tend to get flaky
due to cracked solder joints or bad capacitors and I've seen the
symptom you describe. Usually you can split open the ballast housing
to access the circuit board inside if you'd like to try to repair it.

I too have had bad luck with "no-name" CFL bulbs. I found them to be a
waste of time and money. Most of the time they don´t even give enough
light. A supossedly 23W no-name CFL will probably give less light than a
15W GE CFL, for example.

It´s better to spend a little more money and get CFL´s from a better
brand like GE, Phillips, Osram and so on. The best CFL´s I ever get
where made by Osram, followed by the ones produced by GE. Phillips is
hit and miss. They use good tubes, but sometimes their electronic
ballasts suffer from early failure of the starting cap.

s wrote:

i sort of 'scalped' the bulb base to get access and be able to
unplug the pcb from the twin spiral florescent tubes hidden inside
the frosted glass globe.

i touched up a few of the solder joints and re assembled without
glueing it together yet ,but it didnt work. what i did notice was if
i flick my fingernail against the glass globe it lights up and is
then able to turn on in subsequent attempts.it appears that once
warmed up it doesnt need any more flicking to turn on.

what is puzzling me is that if 1 tube has some sort of fault, why
isnt the other turning on? i have included a small 80k photo of the
circuit parts. at this stage this is more of an educational
experiment rather
than a repair - i doubt i will be able to get this bulb looking
neat enough to complement my chandelier.

http://www.geocities.com/ymailus/views.jpg

thanks

Probably one of the filaments is O/C

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

i must have found what was loose as its consistently turning on now.i
think the connector btwn the pcb & tube contacts was a bit loose.i
glued the case all back together and am waiting for it to dry.

i am wondering a bit about the economy of such bulbs. even though i
save on energy consumption using it, i wonder how much more energy is
required (compared to incandescent light production) for such a
sophisticated bulb, along with all the additional toxic processes
necessary to make the electronic components.

are energy saving bulbs more a case of keeping our environment clean
while increasing pollution in some remote country where the bulbs are
made?

s wrote:

i must have found what was loose as its consistently turning on
now.i
think the connector btwn the pcb & tube contacts was a bit loose.i
glued the case all back together and am waiting for it to dry.

i am wondering a bit about the economy of such bulbs. even though i
save on energy consumption using it, i wonder how much more energy
is required (compared to incandescent light production) for such a
sophisticated bulb, along with all the additional toxic processes
necessary to make the electronic components.

are energy saving bulbs more a case of keeping our environment clean
while increasing pollution in some remote country where the bulbs
are made?

Hey ! Glad you got fixed. They are so cheap I no longer bother trying
to fix them. Plus as you have discovered, they are a pain to get
into. Dry joints, blown triacs and O/c heaters seem to be the common
problems. I once made a high frequency inverter that would strike a
tube with O/c heaters. The tube over about two weeks just went dim
and bluish.

As far as pollution is concerned, I tend to agree with you. I would
imagine that an energy analysis of the energy to make the components
over energy saved would be marginal or even negative.

Certainly the energy saved comparison with an equivalent incandescent
light bulb is real enough !

PS Merry Xmas.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

Baron wrote:
s wrote:

re CFLs

i am wondering a bit about the economy of such bulbs. even though i
save on energy consumption using it, i wonder how much more energy
is required (compared to incandescent light production) for such a
sophisticated bulb, along with all the additional toxic processes
necessary to make the electronic components.

Its not a case of comparing one bulb with one, but one bulb with 8 or
10 filament bulbs. The CFLs dont create any extra junk over 8
filaments.

Also the big difference is with electricity use, and this dwarfs any
materials and embodied energy differences.


problems. I once made a high frequency inverter that would strike a
tube with O/c heaters. The tube over about two weeks just went dim
and bluish.

I wonder if there may have been a dc component flowing? If so, turning
the bulb connections round may do it.


NT

Baron wrote:
s wrote:

re CFLs

i am wondering a bit about the economy of such bulbs. even though i
save on energy consumption using it, i wonder how much more energy
is required (compared to incandescent light production) for such a
sophisticated bulb, along with all the additional toxic processes
necessary to make the electronic components.

Its not a case of comparing one bulb with one, but one bulb with 8 or
10 filament bulbs. The CFLs dont create any extra junk over 8
filaments.

Also the big difference is with electricity use, and this dwarfs any
materials and embodied energy differences.


problems. I once made a high frequency inverter that would strike a
tube with O/c heaters. The tube over about two weeks just went dim
and bluish.

I wonder if there may have been a dc component flowing? If so, turning
the bulb connections round may do it.

The other option is to bypass the electrodes completely, and feed it
through metal strips on the tube glass.


NT

wrote:

Baron wrote:
s wrote:

re CFLs

i am wondering a bit about the economy of such bulbs. even though
i save on energy consumption using it, i wonder how much more
energy is required (compared to incandescent light production)
for such a sophisticated bulb, along with all the additional
toxic processes necessary to make the electronic components.

Its not a case of comparing one bulb with one, but one bulb with 8
or 10 filament bulbs. The CFLs dont create any extra junk over 8
filaments.

Also the big difference is with electricity use, and this dwarfs any
materials and embodied energy differences.


problems. I once made a high frequency inverter that would strike
a tube with O/c heaters. The tube over about two weeks just went
dim and bluish.

I wonder if there may have been a dc component flowing? If so,
turning the bulb connections round may do it.

I doubt it it was fed from a transformer with a capacitor in series !
Probably I just shoved too much current through it. I was just
playing about and didn't take too much time and effort in getting it
right. Anyway at about 100KHz or so, the thing jammed every radio
device in the house. Even the TV patterned when it was on.


The other option is to bypass the electrodes completely, and feed it
through metal strips on the tube glass.


NT

The tube was shaped like a trio of "U"s. I doubt that I could have put
metal strips on it. Although I once did that with a four foot tube
in a display so I could feed it from the bottom. The tube actually
came with a metal tape bonded onto it. It was connected to the metal
caps on each end.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.