Hi,
Came across a 23W dimmable CFL. Got one to try it out.
It worked ~2 hours and pop, it went to full brightness and
no more dimmable??!! Are they this unreliable? Or I got bad one.

In article uuSQj.96222$Cj7.13450@pd7urf2no, Tony Hwang wrote:

Came across a 23W dimmable CFL. Got one to try it out.
It worked ~2 hours and pop, it went to full brightness and
no more dimmable??!! Are they this unreliable? Or I got bad one.

Please tell us the details!

The usual "dimmable CFL" to most looking for those means one that is
safely usable with a "usual light dimmer". I find it hard to believe a
lamp refusing completely to be dimmed by a usual-for-incandescent-type
dimmer. Non-dimmable lamps tend to have short life expectancy when used
with a dimmer against their instructions, and may blow the dimmer.
Usually the lamp is what dies.

- Don Klipstein )

Don Klipstein wrote:
In article uuSQj.96222$Cj7.13450@pd7urf2no, Tony Hwang wrote:


Came across a 23W dimmable CFL. Got one to try it out.
It worked ~2 hours and pop, it went to full brightness and
no more dimmable??!! Are they this unreliable? Or I got bad one.


Please tell us the details!

The usual "dimmable CFL" to most looking for those means one that is
safely usable with a "usual light dimmer". I find it hard to believe a
lamp refusing completely to be dimmed by a usual-for-incandescent-type
dimmer. Non-dimmable lamps tend to have short life expectancy when used
with a dimmer against their instructions, and may blow the dimmer.
Usually the lamp is what dies.

- Don Klipstein )
Hi,
Packaging clearly said it is dimmable. I screwed it in side by side with
60W incdescent lamp, dimmed up and down a few times and noticed when
dimmed too low it was scintillating. At certain point it quit doing that
where I left it. Soon it went to full brightness while the other lamp
was still dimmed. From then on it is no more dimming, just stay at full
bightness.

In article qvVQj.96386$Cj7.75581@pd7urf2no, Tony Hwang wrote:
Don Klipstein wrote:
In article uuSQj.96222$Cj7.13450@pd7urf2no, Tony Hwang wrote:

Came across a 23W dimmable CFL. Got one to try it out.
It worked ~2 hours and pop, it went to full brightness and
no more dimmable??!! Are they this unreliable? Or I got bad one.

Please tell us the details!

The usual "dimmable CFL" to most looking for those means one that is
safely usable with a "usual light dimmer". I find it hard to believe a
lamp refusing completely to be dimmed by a usual-for-incandescent-type
dimmer. Non-dimmable lamps tend to have short life expectancy when used
with a dimmer against their instructions, and may blow the dimmer.
Usually the lamp is what dies.

- Don Klipstein )
Hi,
Packaging clearly said it is dimmable. I screwed it in side by side with
60W incdescent lamp, dimmed up and down a few times and noticed when
dimmed too low it was scintillating. At certain point it quit doing that
where I left it. Soon it went to full brightness while the other lamp
was still dimmed. From then on it is no more dimming, just stay at full
bightness.

I suspect the ballast circuitry in the CFL had part of it fail, and the
CFL converted itself into a conventional CFL. Those can have hardly any
dimming and can appear to be at full brightness until the dimmer is dimmed
past the point at which an incandescent has about 1/4 its normal
brightness. They can also be hard on the dimmer.

CFLs also often dim more slowly than incandescents do at first, being
about half brightness (or more) at a point at which an incandescent is
about 1/4 brightness. A CFL may start dimming more rapidly when dimmed
almost to being off, or may just suddenly turn off.

Special dimming ballasts for ballastless CFLs do better.

- Don Klipstein )

On Apr 26, 10:33*pm, Tony Hwang wrote:
Hi,
Came across a 23W dimmable CFL. Got one to try it out.
It worked ~2 hours and pop, it went to full brightness and
no more dimmable??!! Are they this unreliable? Or I got bad one.

Take it back, im sure it has a warranty, but I dought cfls dim well,
they probably go red in color dimmed

In ,
ransley wrote:

On Apr 26, 10:33*pm, Tony Hwang wrote:
Hi,
Came across a 23W dimmable CFL. Got one to try it out.
It worked ~2 hours and pop, it went to full brightness and
no more dimmable??!! Are they this unreliable? Or I got bad one.

Take it back, im sure it has a warranty, but I dought cfls dim well,
they probably go red in color dimmed

I have done enough CFL dimming to know that indoor ones used indoors do
not change color much from dimming. I have seen some get slightly warmer
or slightly cooler in color from change in current and change in
temperature, but that's it.

One complaint of dimming fluorescents is lack of the color getting
warmer as the lamps are dimmed. The lighting can take on a "dreary gray"
appearance with severe dimming as a result.

- Don Klipstein )

Tony Hwang wrote:

Hi,
Came across a 23W dimmable CFL. Got one to try it out.
It worked ~2 hours and pop, it went to full brightness and
no more dimmable??!! Are they this unreliable? Or I got bad one.

I expect you got a dud. The dimmable CFL I experimented with seemed to
work fine. It also performed a lot better after a day of full on burn in
period which I presume helped get all the mercury vaporized and the
phosphors settled.