Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?

--
Peter E. Orban
National Research Council of Canada
e-mail:

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?

Had the same problem in my bathroom. The fixtures were recessed and I
speculated that heat buildup was the problem. A different bulb from a
different mfg fixed the problem.

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message
...
| Hi Everyone,
|
| We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
| fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
| blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
| bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.
....
| I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?

Made in China? I bought 25 from the dollar store and they have a higher
failure rate.

| Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
| parallel produces more transients, or something like that?

No

| There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
| but not in the powder room.
| I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
| correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

None of that matters. Position (base up, down or sideways) is more
important.

| They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
| 2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
| balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
| surprised if there were any other differences between them.

US made might be better if you can find them. Often they all come from the
same factories, and the prices differ because of greed, not quality.

N

This situation has been discussed ad naseum in alt.energy.homepower. Google
should yield some good info. IIRC, it is not only a question of quality,
but some of the brands are radically overstressing the parts in the
ballasts. The "5000 hour" claim for some brands is pretty much bogus; it
doesn't matter how reliable the lamp itself is, if the ballast stops
working.




"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?

--
Peter E. Orban
National Research Council of Canada
e-mail:

This is interesting that someone brought this up. It seems that I am not
the only one with these lamps failing more often in the bathroom.

I am using compact fluorescents all over our home, my in-laws home, and
at my parents home. The only places where they are not used, are in
locations with dimmers, or for antique type lighting fixtures (only a
few around the place for fancy).

I found some of the low cost ones to fail more often. The ones that I
bought at the regular price under a well known brand name lasted very
long. I have a 15 Watt one in our living room that is sharing on a UPS
with a FAX and a computer. (The idea is to also have a light source
during power failures) These devices including the lamp are running
24/7. The lamp is starting its 3rd year. This makes it running for more
than 16,000 hours, which makes it a "lucky lamp".

The one in our kitchen was an expensive one that was bought about 5
years ago. This one is still running, but it is only on when someone is
in the kitchen.

As for the bathroom, this is another story. This lamp is not lasting
more than about 4 to 6 months. I am starting to think it must be the
combination of the heat and the humidity from when people are taking
showers. I found that the old style incandescent lamp is the best type
for the bathroom, until I can find another solution.

At the other homes where we installed the compact fluorescent lamps, we
are having the same types of failures in the bathrooms. In all the other
parts of our homes, these are more than paying for themselves.

--

Jerry G.
======

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?

--
Peter E. Orban
National Research Council of Canada
e-mail:

I read in sci.electronics.design that Peter E. Orban
wrote (in ) about
'Compact fluorescent light failures', on Thu, 7 Oct 2004:

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?

Check if the fitting closely encloses the base of the lamp. Think 'heat
dissipation'. There's an electrolytic cap in there, and even if it's a
105 C type, it can overheat and dry up.

If the failure mechanism is that the lamp becomes increasingly reluctant
to light up, and eventually refuses entirely, the cap problem is almost
certainly the explanation.

Been there!
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message ...
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?

Are the bulbs enclosed in glass so they dont cool properly? Could
explain it. But some CFLs are like this anyway, some just are not
reliable, try another brand.

NT

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message ...
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?

I have not had any of the really smnall ones like you referred to, but
have some considerable use of the larger wattages. Name brands, like
GE and Sylvania have held up well. Lights of America have been pretty
poor, others somewhere in between. I have taken to saving the
guarantees and using them whenever I had a failure. It is barely
worth the trouble, but we need to hold manufacturers to the fire and
so I go through the process.

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message ...
| Hi Everyone,
|
| Any comment |
| --
| Peter E. Orban
| National Research Council of Canada
| e-mail:


TAKE YOUR ASS OUT OF SED

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?

How often are they turned on, and for how long? Are they cycled often, with
on times of a few minutes?



--
Peter E. Orban
National Research Council of Canada
e-mail:

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?



Are the fixtures fully enclosed? Some CFL's will overheat in those. Also any
made by Lights of America are junk. I've had mixed results with Feit and
Commercial Electric, both made in China. Some are very good and some are
lousy. I had a whole rash of capacitor failures that I was able to fix and
others have failed by burning out one of the cathodes in the tube making
them junk. Turning them on often will shorten their life as well.

US made might be better if you can find them. Often they all come from the
same factories, and the prices differ because of greed, not quality.


I think the only US made CFL's these days are LOA which are made very
poorly, likely to compete in price. If you want solid dependable quality
look into the Philips CFL's, but they cost several times what the cheap
Chinese stuff does. For the best in reliability look on ebay for some
ballasts for 13W quad tubes, then find some tubes and buy sockets online to
retrofit your existing fixtures. I've gotten nice name brand Advance
electronic ballasts for a few dollars each, recently got a batch of 4
1%-100% dimmable ballasts for $20, each will run a pair of 18W quads.

I have not had any of the really smnall ones like you referred to, but
have some considerable use of the larger wattages. Name brands, like
GE and Sylvania have held up well. Lights of America have been pretty
poor, others somewhere in between. I have taken to saving the
guarantees and using them whenever I had a failure. It is barely
worth the trouble, but we need to hold manufacturers to the fire and
so I go through the process.

To their credit, I had Feit send me some replacement lamps for free when I
explained a rash of early failures. LOA wanted me to mail them the old lamps
along with the reciept from when I bought them, even if I'd found the
reciept it'd cost more to mail the lamps than to buy new ones.

"Peter E. Orban" wrote in message ...
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

The fixtures have five (three in the powder room) bulbs in parallel, and
we use the 7W (40W equivalent) bulbs. We have lost about five bulbs
since last year, all of them the 7W variety, four in the five-light
fixture, one in the three-light fixture. I do not think they lasted more
than 100 hours max, and they are guaranteed for 5000 hours. The same
size bulbs in table lights so far are ok.

I am wondering what could be the reason for such a high rate of failure?
Is it possible that the powering up event of three or five lights in
parallel produces more transients, or something like that?
There is also more moisture for short periods of time in the bathroom,
but not in the powder room.
I have double checked the wiring of the fixtures, they are wired
correctly, for live and neutral, with the ground attached.

They are also selling similar bulbs, specifically for vanities, about
2.5 times the cost of the regular ones. They only seem to have the
balloon shaped and sized differently around the spiral. I would be
surprised if there were any other differences between them.

Any comment on the above?

One thing that comes to mind is, are these lights switched on / off
frequently? Starting a fl. light stresses the fl. tube and certainly the
underdesigned electronic ballasts in the CFL bulbs. I remember reading
on a lighting website that starting a regular fl. tube "ages" the tube
as much as 1 hour of on-time. Personally, I leave fl. lights ON when
leaving the room, if I intend on returning within half an hour.
The problem is training other family members to do the same, when all
their lives they've been conditioned to turn off the light whenever
they leave the room.

That said, have you considered replacing the entire fixture with a
fl. fixture? Outfitting a vanity bar with 4-8 quality CFL bulbs could
cost at least as much as a new fixture, that used standard fl. tubes with
10 - 20,000 hour lifetimes. The home-improvement warehouse stores have
a very limited selection, and the Chinese fixtures they are starting to
sell use the same cheap open-board electronic ballasts as in the CFL
bulbs, and non-standard/proprietary replacement fl. tubes. If you go
to an electrical supply house, they have catalogs from the established
light-fixture manufacturers, and they can usually order what you want.
I've installed fl. fixtures (standard fl. tubes and real copper & iron
ballasts) in the bathrooms of the two houses we've owned, and the in-laws'
house, and haven't had any problem with short lamp life.)

Mike
WB2MEP

On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 10:52:33 -0400, "Peter E. Orban"
wrote:

Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.


There could be several reasons for the high failure rate.

Are the problem bulbs the same type as the ones in the rest of the
house? I've noticed a huge difference in reliability from model to
model. Some experience electronic failures long before the tube fails
and others keep working even after the tube has become too dim to be
useful. Price can be a good indication of quality, but not always.
I've got a pair of $1 IKEA branded lamps in an enclosed fixture that's
turned on for at least 12 hours a day. It's been over a year and
they're still working fine.

Another thing that can kill them is excessive heat. Lamps that are in
enclosed fixtures will fail much sooner than ones that are completely
in the open. I'm sure moisture doesn't help either.

Finally, they don't like being turned on and off a lot. Since
bathroom lights tend to be used for short periods many times a day
this could be a factor.
Andy Cuffe

I read in sci.electronics.design that James Sweet
wrote (in 1Go9d.12392$na.2379@trnddc04) about
'Compact fluorescent light failures', on Fri, 8 Oct 2004:

I think the only US made CFL's these days are LOA which are made very
poorly, likely to compete in price.

What about GE?
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk

John Woodgate writes:

I read in sci.electronics.design that James Sweet
wrote (in 1Go9d.12392$na.2379@trnddc04) about
'Compact fluorescent light failures', on Fri, 8 Oct 2004:

I think the only US made CFL's these days are LOA which are made very
poorly, likely to compete in price.

What about GE?

Most of mine are GE spiral except for one that looks like GE with a
generic brand. Except for the one I dropped (and it's schematic is
in the FAQs, thank you!), they have been reliable with no failures
so far. However, I only use them in fixtures that tend to be on
for multiple hours a day, but not in the bathroom.

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

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header is ignored.
To contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.

I read in sci.electronics.design that Sam Goldwasser
wrote (in )
about 'Compact fluorescent light failures', on Fri, 8 Oct 2004:
John Woodgate writes:

I read in sci.electronics.design that James Sweet
wrote (in 1Go9d.12392$na.2379@trnddc04) about
'Compact fluorescent light failures', on Fri, 8 Oct 2004:

I think the only US made CFL's these days are LOA which are made very
poorly, likely to compete in price.

What about GE?

Most of mine are GE spiral except for one that looks like GE with a
generic brand. Except for the one I dropped (and it's schematic is in
the FAQs, thank you!), they have been reliable with no failures so far.
However, I only use them in fixtures that tend to be on for multiple
hours a day, but not in the bathroom.

I asked because I shall be meeting my GE colleague next week, and I
don't have to pass on bad news. (;-)
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk

Andy Cuffe wrote:
On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 10:52:33 -0400, "Peter E. Orban"
wrote:

Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.


There could be several reasons for the high failure rate.

Are the problem bulbs the same type as the ones in the rest of the
house? I've noticed a huge difference in reliability from model to
model. Some experience electronic failures long before the tube fails
and others keep working even after the tube has become too dim to be
useful. Price can be a good indication of quality, but not always.
I've got a pair of $1 IKEA branded lamps in an enclosed fixture that's
turned on for at least 12 hours a day. It's been over a year and
they're still working fine.

Another thing that can kill them is excessive heat. Lamps that are in
enclosed fixtures will fail much sooner than ones that are completely
in the open. I'm sure moisture doesn't help either.

Finally, they don't like being turned on and off a lot. Since
bathroom lights tend to be used for short periods many times a day
this could be a factor.
Andy Cuffe


The one thing I haven't seen mentioned in this entire thread is the
possiblility of moisture being a factor. Certainly there is a lot of that
in a bathroom. The few CFL's I've disassembled did not seem to have much
vapor protection.

jak

"Sam Goldwasser" wrote in message
...
John Woodgate writes:

I read in sci.electronics.design that James Sweet
wrote (in 1Go9d.12392$na.2379@trnddc04) about
'Compact fluorescent light failures', on Fri, 8 Oct 2004:

I think the only US made CFL's these days are LOA which are made very
poorly, likely to compete in price.

What about GE?

Most of mine are GE spiral except for one that looks like GE with a
generic brand. Except for the one I dropped (and it's schematic is
in the FAQs, thank you!), they have been reliable with no failures
so far. However, I only use them in fixtures that tend to be on
for multiple hours a day, but not in the bathroom.


I have some 26W ones I got off Ebay, I think they're branded Titan in the
bathroom, they've been fine so far but the fixture is not fully enclosed and
I always turn on the vent fan when I shower.

Peter E. Orban wrote:
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

I've had the same problem. I assumed that it was the humidity.
We take steamy showers.

On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 20:31:34 GMT, the renowned Roy McCammon
wrote:



Peter E. Orban wrote:
Hi Everyone,

We replaced most of our incandescent light bulbs with compact
fluorescent bulbs about a year and a half ago (it was before the NA
blackout last year). The bulbs are holding up fine, except in the
bathrooms, and I am wondering what could be the reason.

I've had the same problem. I assumed that it was the humidity.
We take steamy showers.

I have put off replacing the light inside the shower with a CF bulb
because of that worry. Maybe if I sawed one open and sprayed it with
conformal coating? Only some brands seem to stand up well outdoors.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

In article 1Go9d.12392$na.2379@trnddc04, James Sweet wrote:

US made might be better if you can find them. Often they all come from the
same factories, and the prices differ because of greed, not quality.

I think the only US made CFL's these days are LOA which are made very
poorly, likely to compete in price.

Most LOA compact fluorescents were being made in China last time I
checked.

In the 1990's I saw LOA ones with USA-made electronic ballasts, and I
saw a cold solder joint in one and loose-fitting contacts (bad enough to
cause problems) in one of only four non-China-made ones that I bought.

I have also had enough LOA lamps not give me as much light as claimed.
On one model I know of them reducing their claim of light output in
lumens, although they continued to claim that the now-2700 lumen one was
equal to a 200 watt incandescent.

- Don Klipstein , http://www.misty.com/~don/cfx.html)

In article wIo9d.12393$na.6133@trnddc04, James Sweet wrote:

I have not had any of the really smnall ones like you referred to, but
have some considerable use of the larger wattages. Name brands, like
GE and Sylvania have held up well. Lights of America have been pretty
poor, others somewhere in between. I have taken to saving the
guarantees and using them whenever I had a failure. It is barely
worth the trouble, but we need to hold manufacturers to the fire and
so I go through the process.

To their credit, I had Feit send me some replacement lamps for free when I
explained a rash of early failures. LOA wanted me to mail them the old lamps
along with the reciept from when I bought them, even if I'd found the
reciept it'd cost more to mail the lamps than to buy new ones.

I'm starting to wish I did when three of the four LOA ones that I bought
so far this decade died very young. If enough people pester those who
give us junk with their junk and work to go through honoring their
warranty, then they will shape up or go out of business.

- Don Klipstein , http://www.misty.com/~don/cfx.html)

In article , I - Don Klipstein wrote:

I'm starting to wish I did when three of the four LOA ones that I bought
so far this decade died very young. If enough people pester those who
give us junk with their junk and work to go through honoring their
warranty, then they will shape up or go out of business.

Oops - I look back on written records handy to me, turns out I only
bought three LOA units so far this decade and had early failure of just
two.

Other early failures I had so far in CFLs that I bought so far this
decade:

1. Two GE 25 watt spirals that I bought in 2001 both failed after just a
few hundred operating hours. I no longer see GE 25 watt spirals on the
market.

2. I have purchased at least three dozen dollar store compact
fluorescents, totalling 10 "brands" and 22 "models". One was DOA and one
failed after just a few minutes of operation. Two others were "not right"
- one with an excessively hot base and one that flickered and had light
output much lower than that of other dollar store CFLs.

My main complaint of dollar store CFLs, however, is exaggerated claims
of light output. None of my 22 "models" matched nor exceeded the light
output of a 40 watt "soft white" incandescent, rated 445 lumens. Some of
these claimed to replace incandescents of 125 watts. One claimed 1130
lumens.
Another complaint of dollar store CFLs is that most are bluish
"daylight" in color, including some in packages saying "SUN Lighting" and
some in packages that say "Soft warm white light". A majority of the few
of my dollar store CFLs that actually had a "warm" color had a color more
purplish than other "warm" CFLs and also had a low color rendering index.

- Don Klipstein )

"Don Klipstein" wrote in message
...
....
| My main complaint of dollar store CFLs, however, is exaggerated claims
| of light output. None of my 22 "models" matched nor exceeded the light
| output of a 40 watt "soft white" incandescent, rated 445 lumens. Some of
| these claimed to replace incandescents of 125 watts. One claimed 1130
| lumens.
| Another complaint of dollar store CFLs is that most are bluish
| "daylight" in color, including some in packages saying "SUN Lighting" and
| some in packages that say "Soft warm white light". A majority of the few
| of my dollar store CFLs that actually had a "warm" color had a color more
| purplish than other "warm" CFLs and also had a low color rendering index.
|
| - Don Klipstein )

Ain't that the truth? But considering the source (China) and the price I
guess they're still a good deal. After all, Leno makes jokes about dollar
store items regularly.

N

lumens.
Another complaint of dollar store CFLs is that most are bluish
"daylight" in color, including some in packages saying "SUN Lighting" and
some in packages that say "Soft warm white light". A majority of the few
of my dollar store CFLs that actually had a "warm" color had a color more
purplish than other "warm" CFLs and also had a low color rendering index.


Usually those "daylight" ones cost significantly more, I like them for
outdoor lighting, they really make plants glow.