I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

on 10/16/2009 8:50 AM (ET) JIMMIE wrote the following:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

Regular CFLs cannot be used with a dimmer.
You need to buy "dimmable" CFLs

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

On Oct 16, 8:50*am, JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

Are you trying to control the CFL with the dimmer (can't do that) or
is the fixture with the CFL simply on the same branch circuit as the
dimmer but not controlled by it?

On Oct 16, 9:37*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Oct 16, 8:50*am, JIMMIE wrote:

I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

Are you trying to control the CFL with the dimmer (can't do that) or
is the fixture with the CFL simply on the same branch circuit as the
dimmer but not controlled by it?

Not really I just forgot it was on a dimmer when I went to replace the
bulb. I was surprised when all the other lamps came on full brilliance
when I put the CFL in.

Jimmie

On Oct 16, 9:37*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Oct 16, 8:50*am, JIMMIE wrote:

I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

Are you trying to control the CFL with the dimmer (can't do that) or
is the fixture with the CFL simply on the same branch circuit as the
dimmer but not controlled by it?

Not really I just forgot it was on a dimmer when I went to replace the
bulb. I was surprised when all the other lamps came on full brilliance
when I put the CFL in.

Jimmie

On 10/16/2009 7:48 AM JIMMIE spake thus:

On Oct 16, 9:37 am, DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Oct 16, 8:50 am, JIMMIE wrote:

I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Are you trying to control the CFL with the dimmer (can't do that) or
is the fixture with the CFL simply on the same branch circuit as the
dimmer but not controlled by it?

Not really I just forgot it was on a dimmer when I went to replace the
bulb. I was surprised when all the other lamps came on full brilliance
when I put the CFL in.

Sounds like the dimmer is affected by the current drawn by its load (and
as you said, doesn't work with a reactive load like a CFL).

You could go ahead and use it if you don't mind giving up the dimming
function; just run the lights at full brightness. Shouldn't hurt anything.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something.

--
aem sends...

On Oct 16, 6:16�pm, aemeijers wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something..

--
aem sends...

saw candelabra CFLs at sams club last week. my best friend has those
!@##$ at his home. now he can convert to CFLs

I bought a special dimable CFL for my bathroom. its in a light bar
with 4 regular bulbs/

they dim the CFL doesnt... how wierd

aemeijers wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.


yes, I have some. They work "OK" but still aren't great - the dimmer
hums a little when they're fully dimmed, so I wonder if something bad
isn't happening in there. (it's a Lutron Diva dimmer, if it makes any
difference. I *think* the CFLs are Sylvania, FWIW. Pretty sure I got
them at Lowe's. The "dimmable" CFLs that Home Despot sells... aren't.
They sucked so badly I returned them on principle.)

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something.

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is the
standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is the size
larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

wrote:
On Oct 16, 6:16�pm, aemeijers wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.
Jimmie.
I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something.

--
aem sends...

saw candelabra CFLs at sams club last week. my best friend has those
!@##$ at his home. now he can convert to CFLs

I bought a special dimable CFL for my bathroom. its in a light bar
with 4 regular bulbs/

they dim the CFL doesnt... how wierd

It probably does dim, you just don't notice it in comparison to the
incandescents. The two that I have in my house, if you slide the dimmer
all the way low, the lights are still close to 50% brightness. If I put
incandescents in the same fixture, at the same setting, you can barely
tell that they're on. It's not a problem for me; the application is the
wall sconces in my living room, and I'm using "100W equivalent" CFLs
(which actually are pretty bright.) So dimmed down they are good for
just sitting and chatting with folks, and all the way up you can read
without straining your eyes.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On 10/16/2009 4:20 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is the
standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is the size
larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.

Well, you (and I) don't see mogul bases much anymore, but anyone who
deals with commercial or industrial lighting sees them a *lot*.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

On Oct 16, 9:48*am, JIMMIE wrote:
On Oct 16, 9:37*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Oct 16, 8:50*am, JIMMIE wrote:

I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

Are you trying to control the CFL with the dimmer (can't do that) or
is the fixture with the CFL simply on the same branch circuit as the
dimmer but not controlled by it?

Not really I just forgot it was on a dimmer when I went to replace the
bulb. I was surprised when all the other lamps came on full brilliance
when I put the CFL in.

Jimmie

I put a cfl and a 75W incandescent in a common ceiling fixture on a
dimmer. The incandescent lamp dimmed normally down to halfway. The
cfl stayed at essentially full brightness until the incandescent was
at 1/2 brightness, then it went out and the incandescent lamp steyd at
the reduced brightness and then dinmmed the rest of the way normally.

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is the
standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is the
size
larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.

nate

I know the Edison base as a "medium base". (No slight meant to
Edison) And you still see Mogal base on Mercury vapor exterior
lighting.

bob_v

On Oct 16, 6:16*pm, aemeijers wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something..

--
aem sends...

Yeah, they are ugly. I saw them in HD the other day. Wife says that
for as little as we use ours we can stick with incandescent.

Jimmie

aemeijers wrote:
-snip-
On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term).
-snip-

Don't CFL those-- use LEDs-
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Ca.../dp/B000KG001I

You can spend upwards of $20 on a bulb, but it should out-perform and
outlast a couple CFLs.

Jim

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:16:52 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:

JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases?

That's the same size base as C7 holiday lights.

I've found some 7W candelabra-base CFLs at Lowe's. It's been about 3
years, so that doesn't mean they have them now.

(can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something.

BTW, I do use a CFL in my stovetop hood. It would get too hot with an
incandescent.
--
69 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"How could you ask me to believe in God when there's
absolutely no evidence that I can see?" -- Jodie Foster

Bob Villa wrote:
yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is the
standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is the
size
larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.

nate

I know the Edison base as a "medium base". (No slight meant to
Edison) And you still see Mogal base on Mercury vapor exterior
lighting.

And if you can find those giant 200 or 300 watt incandescent bulbs they
have the the large base.

On Oct 16, 9:00*pm, "hr(bob) "
wrote:
On Oct 16, 9:48*am, JIMMIE wrote:



On Oct 16, 9:37*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Oct 16, 8:50*am, JIMMIE wrote:

I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

Are you trying to control the CFL with the dimmer (can't do that) or
is the fixture with the CFL simply on the same branch circuit as the
dimmer but not controlled by it?

Not really I just forgot it was on a dimmer when I went to replace the
bulb. I was surprised when all the other lamps came on full brilliance
when I put the CFL in.

Jimmie

I put a cfl and a 75W incandescent in a common ceiling fixture on a
dimmer. *The incandescent lamp dimmed normally down to halfway. *The
cfl stayed at essentially full brightness until the incandescent was
at 1/2 brightness, then it went out and the incandescent lamp steyd at
the reduced brightness and then dinmmed the rest of the way normally.

I tried it again on another dimmer and it works more like you said on
that one.

Jimmie

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 16 Oct 2009 04:53:00p, David Nebenzahl told us...

On 10/16/2009 4:20 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is the
standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is the size
larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.
Well, you (and I) don't see mogul bases much anymore, but anyone who
deals with commercial or industrial lighting sees them a *lot*.

Most mogul base bulbs for residential use were 3-way builbs used as the
center bulb in floor lamps. They were particularly common in the 1940s-
1950s. Usually the central mogul base bulb was surrounded by 3 edison base
sockets with a3-way switche to turn on 1, 2, or all 3 bulbs. The mogul had
it's own 3-way switch to handle the double filaments.

So back in the 50's the "lamp dimming" technology to dim lights and use
less power was far, far superior to the modern use of "Dimmer Switches".
That figures! (I'd like to find one of those lamps.)

At my last home I rewired the lights on the ceiling fans. I made it so
the first pull on the chain turned on two opposite bulbs (25 watt), the
next pull turned them off and turned on the other two sockets (with 60
watt bulbs), the third pull turned on all four sockets/bulbs. Much more
efficient than a dimmer switch.

Tony wrote:
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 16 Oct 2009 04:53:00p, David Nebenzahl told us...

On 10/16/2009 4:20 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is
the standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is
the size larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.
Well, you (and I) don't see mogul bases much anymore, but anyone who
deals with commercial or industrial lighting sees them a *lot*.

Most mogul base bulbs for residential use were 3-way builbs used as
the center bulb in floor lamps. They were particularly common in the
1940s-
1950s. Usually the central mogul base bulb was surrounded by 3 edison
base sockets with a3-way switche to turn on 1, 2, or all 3 bulbs. The
mogul had it's own 3-way switch to handle the double filaments.

So back in the 50's the "lamp dimming" technology to dim lights and use
less power was far, far superior to the modern use of "Dimmer Switches".
That figures! (I'd like to find one of those lamps.)

At my last home I rewired the lights on the ceiling fans. I made it so
the first pull on the chain turned on two opposite bulbs (25 watt), the
next pull turned them off and turned on the other two sockets (with 60
watt bulbs), the third pull turned on all four sockets/bulbs. Much more
efficient than a dimmer switch.

Speaking of the 1950s (and up into the 60s)- remember those living room
pole lamps with multiple heads growing off them? Some of them were even
spring-loaded to go between floor and ceiling without having to have a
huge base. Common use was in the 'Dagwood and Blondie' corner of the
living room, with the 2 big chairs, so each person could have light on
what they were reading. 3rd head was usually bounced off ceiling, or
just ignored. I think my grandparents wore out about three of them. He
was a retired EE, so he would switch parts around to keep the important
parts working.

--
aem sends...

aemeijers wrote:
Tony wrote:
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 16 Oct 2009 04:53:00p, David Nebenzahl told us...

On 10/16/2009 4:20 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is
the standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is
the size larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.
Well, you (and I) don't see mogul bases much anymore, but anyone who
deals with commercial or industrial lighting sees them a *lot*.

Most mogul base bulbs for residential use were 3-way builbs used as
the center bulb in floor lamps. They were particularly common in the
1940s-
1950s. Usually the central mogul base bulb was surrounded by 3
edison base sockets with a3-way switche to turn on 1, 2, or all 3
bulbs. The mogul had it's own 3-way switch to handle the double
filaments.

So back in the 50's the "lamp dimming" technology to dim lights and
use less power was far, far superior to the modern use of "Dimmer
Switches". That figures! (I'd like to find one of those lamps.)

At my last home I rewired the lights on the ceiling fans. I made it
so the first pull on the chain turned on two opposite bulbs (25 watt),
the next pull turned them off and turned on the other two sockets
(with 60 watt bulbs), the third pull turned on all four
sockets/bulbs. Much more efficient than a dimmer switch.

Speaking of the 1950s (and up into the 60s)- remember those living room
pole lamps with multiple heads growing off them? Some of them were even
spring-loaded to go between floor and ceiling without having to have a
huge base. Common use was in the 'Dagwood and Blondie' corner of the
living room, with the 2 big chairs, so each person could have light on
what they were reading. 3rd head was usually bounced off ceiling, or
just ignored. I think my grandparents wore out about three of them. He
was a retired EE, so he would switch parts around to keep the important
parts working.

Funny, I was just thinking about them last week and pictured the spring
loaded one we had when I was a kid! I think I may have seen one on TV
and that jarred my memory.

How about the adjustable height dining room light? It had an egg shaped
spring loaded center part to coil up the wire inside if you were to
raise it up. You simply grabbed the light and pulled it down or pushed
it up and the spring loaded wire would hold it there... until it got old.

Tony wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Tony wrote:
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 16 Oct 2009 04:53:00p, David Nebenzahl told us...

On 10/16/2009 4:20 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is
the standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is
the size larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.
Well, you (and I) don't see mogul bases much anymore, but anyone
who deals with commercial or industrial lighting sees them a *lot*.

Most mogul base bulbs for residential use were 3-way builbs used as
the center bulb in floor lamps. They were particularly common in
the 1940s-
1950s. Usually the central mogul base bulb was surrounded by 3
edison base sockets with a3-way switche to turn on 1, 2, or all 3
bulbs. The mogul had it's own 3-way switch to handle the double
filaments.

So back in the 50's the "lamp dimming" technology to dim lights and
use less power was far, far superior to the modern use of "Dimmer
Switches". That figures! (I'd like to find one of those lamps.)

At my last home I rewired the lights on the ceiling fans. I made it
so the first pull on the chain turned on two opposite bulbs (25
watt), the next pull turned them off and turned on the other two
sockets (with 60 watt bulbs), the third pull turned on all four
sockets/bulbs. Much more efficient than a dimmer switch.

Speaking of the 1950s (and up into the 60s)- remember those living
room pole lamps with multiple heads growing off them? Some of them
were even spring-loaded to go between floor and ceiling without having
to have a huge base. Common use was in the 'Dagwood and Blondie'
corner of the living room, with the 2 big chairs, so each person could
have light on what they were reading. 3rd head was usually bounced off
ceiling, or just ignored. I think my grandparents wore out about three
of them. He was a retired EE, so he would switch parts around to keep
the important parts working.

Funny, I was just thinking about them last week and pictured the spring
loaded one we had when I was a kid! I think I may have seen one on TV
and that jarred my memory.

How about the adjustable height dining room light? It had an egg shaped
spring loaded center part to coil up the wire inside if you were to
raise it up. You simply grabbed the light and pulled it down or pushed
it up and the spring loaded wire would hold it there... until it got old.

My grandparents had both of those, as well as a big starburst clock over
the console TV.

The lights are actually quite functional, albeit passe style-wise. Esp.
so the pull down dining room table light, if you're the type of person
who likes to lay down some newspaper on the table and tinker with stuff.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Tony wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Tony wrote:
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 16 Oct 2009 04:53:00p, David Nebenzahl told us...

On 10/16/2009 4:20 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is
the standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is
the size larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.
Well, you (and I) don't see mogul bases much anymore, but anyone
who deals with commercial or industrial lighting sees them a *lot*.

Most mogul base bulbs for residential use were 3-way builbs used as
the center bulb in floor lamps. They were particularly common in
the 1940s-
1950s. Usually the central mogul base bulb was surrounded by 3
edison base sockets with a3-way switche to turn on 1, 2, or all 3
bulbs. The mogul had it's own 3-way switch to handle the double
filaments.

So back in the 50's the "lamp dimming" technology to dim lights and
use less power was far, far superior to the modern use of "Dimmer
Switches". That figures! (I'd like to find one of those lamps.)

At my last home I rewired the lights on the ceiling fans. I made it
so the first pull on the chain turned on two opposite bulbs (25
watt), the next pull turned them off and turned on the other two
sockets (with 60 watt bulbs), the third pull turned on all four
sockets/bulbs. Much more efficient than a dimmer switch.

Speaking of the 1950s (and up into the 60s)- remember those living
room pole lamps with multiple heads growing off them? Some of them
were even spring-loaded to go between floor and ceiling without having
to have a huge base. Common use was in the 'Dagwood and Blondie'
corner of the living room, with the 2 big chairs, so each person could
have light on what they were reading. 3rd head was usually bounced off
ceiling, or just ignored. I think my grandparents wore out about three
of them. He was a retired EE, so he would switch parts around to keep
the important parts working.

Funny, I was just thinking about them last week and pictured the spring
loaded one we had when I was a kid! I think I may have seen one on TV
and that jarred my memory.

How about the adjustable height dining room light? It had an egg shaped
spring loaded center part to coil up the wire inside if you were to
raise it up. You simply grabbed the light and pulled it down or pushed
it up and the spring loaded wire would hold it there... until it got old.

Was the one your family had antique brass or copper colored? There may
have been others, but those stick in my mind. My family's 1956 house had
one of those in copper, to go with the Real Wood cherry cabinets, but
the 1966 house had a very futuristic flying saucer lamp on a
brush-nickel colored down pipe. The real dining table used 90% of the
time, a table-height peninsula in the kitchen, had focused cans above it.

That 1966 house was great, my old man's big dream for his family. Too
bad we couldn't afford it (68-70 being real bad years for custom
builders), and ended up elsewhere by 72. If I was to hit the lotto, I
believe I would knock on the door and make the current owners an offer
for it. I drive by once a year or so, when I happen to be in that town.
They have changed a few things, but they haven't mucked it up too bad,
other than a hideous front door. I wonder if my key still fits the door?
Probably best that I'll never know, I guess. Reality can never live up
to memories.

--
aem sends....

Nate Nagel wrote:
Tony wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Tony wrote:
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 16 Oct 2009 04:53:00p, David Nebenzahl told us...

On 10/16/2009 4:20 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is
the standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base"
is the size larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.
Well, you (and I) don't see mogul bases much anymore, but anyone
who deals with commercial or industrial lighting sees them a *lot*.

Most mogul base bulbs for residential use were 3-way builbs used as
the center bulb in floor lamps. They were particularly common in
the 1940s-
1950s. Usually the central mogul base bulb was surrounded by 3
edison base sockets with a3-way switche to turn on 1, 2, or all 3
bulbs. The mogul had it's own 3-way switch to handle the double
filaments.

So back in the 50's the "lamp dimming" technology to dim lights and
use less power was far, far superior to the modern use of "Dimmer
Switches". That figures! (I'd like to find one of those lamps.)

At my last home I rewired the lights on the ceiling fans. I made it
so the first pull on the chain turned on two opposite bulbs (25
watt), the next pull turned them off and turned on the other two
sockets (with 60 watt bulbs), the third pull turned on all four
sockets/bulbs. Much more efficient than a dimmer switch.

Speaking of the 1950s (and up into the 60s)- remember those living
room pole lamps with multiple heads growing off them? Some of them
were even spring-loaded to go between floor and ceiling without
having to have a huge base. Common use was in the 'Dagwood and
Blondie' corner of the living room, with the 2 big chairs, so each
person could have light on what they were reading. 3rd head was
usually bounced off ceiling, or just ignored. I think my grandparents
wore out about three of them. He was a retired EE, so he would switch
parts around to keep the important parts working.

Funny, I was just thinking about them last week and pictured the
spring loaded one we had when I was a kid! I think I may have seen
one on TV and that jarred my memory.

How about the adjustable height dining room light? It had an egg
shaped spring loaded center part to coil up the wire inside if you
were to raise it up. You simply grabbed the light and pulled it down
or pushed it up and the spring loaded wire would hold it there...
until it got old.

My grandparents had both of those, as well as a big starburst clock over
the console TV.

The lights are actually quite functional, albeit passe style-wise. Esp.
so the pull down dining room table light, if you're the type of person
who likes to lay down some newspaper on the table and tinker with stuff.

We had to leave the tinkering in the garage, or in my bedroom. I did
however picture pulling the light down while doing some big jigsaw puzzles.

On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:20:46 -0400, Tony
wrote:

Bob Villa wrote:
yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is the
standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is the
size
larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.

nate

I know the Edison base as a "medium base". (No slight meant to
Edison) And you still see Mogal base on Mercury vapor exterior
lighting.

And if you can find those giant 200 or 300 watt incandescent bulbs they
have the the large base.

I have seen a 200W bulb in about 1978. It had a standard base. About
the same time I found a 1000W bulb, which did have a mogul base. I
gave off a lot of heat too.
--
69 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"How could you ask me to believe in God when there's
absolutely no evidence that I can see?" -- Jodie Foster

aemeijers wrote:
Tony wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Tony wrote:
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 16 Oct 2009 04:53:00p, David Nebenzahl told us...

On 10/16/2009 4:20 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is
the standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base"
is the size larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.
Well, you (and I) don't see mogul bases much anymore, but anyone
who deals with commercial or industrial lighting sees them a *lot*.

Most mogul base bulbs for residential use were 3-way builbs used as
the center bulb in floor lamps. They were particularly common in
the 1940s-
1950s. Usually the central mogul base bulb was surrounded by 3
edison base sockets with a3-way switche to turn on 1, 2, or all 3
bulbs. The mogul had it's own 3-way switch to handle the double
filaments.

So back in the 50's the "lamp dimming" technology to dim lights and
use less power was far, far superior to the modern use of "Dimmer
Switches". That figures! (I'd like to find one of those lamps.)

At my last home I rewired the lights on the ceiling fans. I made it
so the first pull on the chain turned on two opposite bulbs (25
watt), the next pull turned them off and turned on the other two
sockets (with 60 watt bulbs), the third pull turned on all four
sockets/bulbs. Much more efficient than a dimmer switch.

Speaking of the 1950s (and up into the 60s)- remember those living
room pole lamps with multiple heads growing off them? Some of them
were even spring-loaded to go between floor and ceiling without
having to have a huge base. Common use was in the 'Dagwood and
Blondie' corner of the living room, with the 2 big chairs, so each
person could have light on what they were reading. 3rd head was
usually bounced off ceiling, or just ignored. I think my grandparents
wore out about three of them. He was a retired EE, so he would switch
parts around to keep the important parts working.

Funny, I was just thinking about them last week and pictured the
spring loaded one we had when I was a kid! I think I may have seen
one on TV and that jarred my memory.

How about the adjustable height dining room light? It had an egg
shaped spring loaded center part to coil up the wire inside if you
were to raise it up. You simply grabbed the light and pulled it down
or pushed it up and the spring loaded wire would hold it there...
until it got old.

Was the one your family had antique brass or copper colored? There may
have been others, but those stick in my mind. My family's 1956 house had
one of those in copper, to go with the Real Wood cherry cabinets, but
the 1966 house had a very futuristic flying saucer lamp on a
brush-nickel colored down pipe. The real dining table used 90% of the
time, a table-height peninsula in the kitchen, had focused cans above it.

That 1966 house was great, my old man's big dream for his family. Too
bad we couldn't afford it (68-70 being real bad years for custom
builders), and ended up elsewhere by 72. If I was to hit the lotto, I
believe I would knock on the door and make the current owners an offer
for it. I drive by once a year or so, when I happen to be in that town.
They have changed a few things, but they haven't mucked it up too bad,
other than a hideous front door. I wonder if my key still fits the door?
Probably best that I'll never know, I guess. Reality can never live up
to memories.

In the pull down light I picture the egg,spring,cord holder as bright
brass plated with spots where the clear finish didn't hold up. The
light itself was sort of like a flying saucer metal on top and I think
frosted glass on the bottom, and I think instead of the normal screw on
part to hold the glass, it was made so you could grab it with your
finger to pull it down. The top part had a design made with little
holes in the metal that let a small amount of light out.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
(snip)

When I was growing up in the 1950s-1960s, we had both types of the pole
lamps, the spring-tensioned style and the style with a base. We never had
a pull down ceiling light, but I remember them well. There are
contemporary versions still made, but the styling has been updated.

We also had a "TV lamp" that sat on top of the television and reflected
light upward and backward. Back then it was considered bad for the eyes to
view a televisioin in a totally darkened room, and ambient light somewhere
around the TV was considered ideal.


Chuckle. There was a recent thread, forget which group, bitching about a
brand of wall-mount flat TV that had lighting like that built into the
edge of the 'picture frame' on the set, with a photo cell to measure the
room light. As room got dark, it would switch itself on.

Don't know if it is actually bad for the eyes or not, but it does
probably reduce bumped shins when you get up to run to the can during
commercials. I usually just leave the light at the far end of the
kitchen turned on.

--
aem sends...

On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:27:08 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:

[snip]

Don't know if it is actually bad for the eyes or not, but it does
probably reduce bumped shins when you get up to run to the can during
commercials. I usually just leave the light at the far end of the
kitchen turned on.

And the light makes it harder to accidentally step on a cat. They're
something like the other things you can bump into, but are mobile and
can be found in unexpected places.

I keep a string of green LED holiday lights on all the time.

BTW, some of the lights (some in each series) have gone out over time,
but others are still lit. That's strange.
--
68 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"How could you ask me to believe in God when there's
absolutely no evidence that I can see?" -- Jodie Foster

On Oct 16, 5:16�pm, aemeijers wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something..

--
aem sends...

I have found those at Sam's Club. I have also seenj base adapters
somewhere - Menard's, I think.

On Oct 16, 5:46�pm, " wrote:
On Oct 16, 6:16 pm, aemeijers wrote:





JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something.

--
aem sends...

saw candelabra CFLs at sams club last week. my best friend has those
!@##$ at his home. now he can convert to CFLs

I bought a special dimable CFL for my bathroom. its in a light bar
with 4 regular bulbs/

they dim the CFL doesnt... how wierd- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:39:48 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:

On Sun 18 Oct 2009 11:01:34a, Mark Lloyd told us...

On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:27:08 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:

[snip]

Don't know if it is actually bad for the eyes or not, but it does
probably reduce bumped shins when you get up to run to the can during
commercials. I usually just leave the light at the far end of the
kitchen turned on.

And the light makes it harder to accidentally step on a cat. They're
something like the other things you can bump into, but are mobile and
can be found in unexpected places.

I keep a string of green LED holiday lights on all the time.

BTW, some of the lights (some in each series) have gone out over time,
but others are still lit. That's strange.

Actually, not at all strange. Typically these lights are wired in series,
but the bulbs are designed to fuse the filament together when they burn out
so that the circuit is still completed.

LEDs don't have filaments, but semiconductor junctions.
--
67 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"How could you ask me to believe in God when there's
absolutely no evidence that I can see?" -- Jodie Foster

In article , aemeijers wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term). Half my ceiling lights use
those damn things. Had to get special ones of those, too. Ones in the
hanging lamp over kitchen table were regular 'flame' bulbs when I moved
in, and when one zap-failed, it fried the dimmer. The special ones have
a backup wire to keep the spike from going back up the line, or something.

Candelabra base CFLs are now getting a little common at Lowes and Home
Depot.

- Don Klipstein )

In ,
wrote in part:

I bought a special dimable CFL for my bathroom. its in a light bar
with 4 regular bulbs/

they dim the CFL doesnt... how wierd

I would expect a dimable CFL to dim more slowly than incandescents do.
Incandescents greatly lose energy efficiency when dimmed.

Non-dimmable CFLs mixed with incandescents may give close enough to zero
visible dimming effect until the incandescents are getting about 60% of
full power and producing about 25-30% of full light output.

- Don Klipstein )

In article , Mark Lloyd wrote:
On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:20:46 -0400, Tony
wrote:

Bob Villa wrote:
yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is the
standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is the
size
larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.

nate

I know the Edison base as a "medium base". (No slight meant to
Edison) And you still see Mogal base on Mercury vapor exterior
lighting.

And if you can find those giant 200 or 300 watt incandescent bulbs they
have the the large base.

I have seen a 200W bulb in about 1978. It had a standard base. About
the same time I found a 1000W bulb, which did have a mogul base. I
gave off a lot of heat too.

My experience in USA is that 200 and 300 watt 120V single-filament
incandescents and 50-200-250 watt 3-way ones tend to have medium bases.

- Don Klipstein )

In article , Jim Elbrecht wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
-snip-
On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term).
-snip-

Don't CFL those-- use LEDs-
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Ca...tmas-Lighting-
Replacements/dp/B000KG001I

You can spend upwards of $20 on a bulb, but it should out-perform and
outlast a couple CFLs.

For lamps bright enough for general illumination, such as 40 watt
incandescent equivalent, I am finding most LED ones to be low on light
output and to often have an icy cold color.

This will improve over the next several years.

- Don Klipstein )

aemeijers wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I replaced one bulb of 4 incandescent bulbs with a compact florescent
lamp and the dimmer on the circuit quit working. The lights come on
but full brightness no matter where the control is. Put in a regular
light bulb and everything is back to normal. If igure the reactive
load of the florescent lamp screws up the dimmer.

Jimmie.

I'm no CFL expert, but I recall a thread on here where you had to buy
special CFLs with an extra circuit in the base, for use on dimmers.

On a related note- does anybody make CFLs for the small candelabra
bases? (can't remember the proper term).

Is this what you mean:
"http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80060603"?

Don Klipstein wrote:
In article , Mark Lloyd wrote:
On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:20:46 -0400, Tony
wrote:

Bob Villa wrote:
yes, and "candelabra base" is the correct term. "Edison base" is the
standard light bulb that we all know and love, "Mogul base" is the
size
larger than that that you hardly ever see anymore.

nate

I know the Edison base as a "medium base". (No slight meant to
Edison) And you still see Mogal base on Mercury vapor exterior
lighting.
And if you can find those giant 200 or 300 watt incandescent bulbs they
have the the large base.
I have seen a 200W bulb in about 1978. It had a standard base. About
the same time I found a 1000W bulb, which did have a mogul base. I
gave off a lot of heat too.

My experience in USA is that 200 and 300 watt 120V single-filament
incandescents and 50-200-250 watt 3-way ones tend to have medium bases.

I could easily be wrong about the 200 300 watt bases. I'm going from
memory from ~1979 and I have a hard time remembering today! I was
probably just stunned at the size of the bulb itself. I'm sure it was
at least 10" from base to top. Or maybe the wattage was higher than I
remember?

Well since this thread is still kicking.... I installed a new
oven/range hood and exhaust fan, and light. The light switch has a
"night light" setting which puts a diode in series with the lamps. I
installed 2 CFL's and just had to see how they would react with half
wave pulsating DC. I thought they would work, and I was right. I can
see some flickering but they aren't very dim. One of these days I'll
measure the current with and without the diode in series. I don't leave
them on the pulsating DC, in fact one of these days I'll jumper the
diode so I can't leave it on that way by mistake.

In article , Tony wrote:

Well since this thread is still kicking.... I installed a new
oven/range hood and exhaust fan, and light. The light switch has a
"night light" setting which puts a diode in series with the lamps. I
installed 2 CFL's and just had to see how they would react with half
wave pulsating DC. I thought they would work, and I was right. I can
see some flickering but they aren't very dim. One of these days I'll
measure the current with and without the diode in series. I don't leave
them on the pulsating DC, in fact one of these days I'll jumper the
diode so I can't leave it on that way by mistake.

In general, most integral-electronic-ballast CFLs, especially
non-dimmable ones, have a bridge rectifier - a basic circuit section
having 4 diodes.

If you give such a CFL DC (pulsating or otherwise), it draws its current
through only 2 of these 4 diodes - making those 2 diodes produce almost
twice as much heat as they otherwise would. This is partially
counterbalanced by the other 2 diodes making little or no heat at all, but
there is still the matter of 2 diodes conducting twice or almost-twice as
much current as they would in "normal use".

I give chance of frying these diodes to be low, since in the few times I
dissected CFLs these diodes appeared to me to be 1-amp ones (or worth at
least half an amp as being part of an integrated-circuit bridge rectifier
appearing to me nominally rated for 1, maybe 1.5 amps).

One thing to worry about is ability of these diodes to conduct a given
quantity of current being impaired by the heat coming in from elsewhere
nearby - it appears to me that "the numbers usually add up OK" - but
*only usually*.

If I was going to bet my house on a CFL here not burning it down, I
would *at least* restrict myself to doing this with UL listed ones (in
USA) of "Big 3" brands that have more at stake in terms of liability, and
even then I fear that I might need some "legal budget" if things
go kablooey.

And, if I was going to use a fixture having a dimming diode with a CFL
hardly dimmed by the diode, I would bypass the diode. Modifying the
fixture in such a way technically invalidates UL listing of the fixture
and increases your liability if things go kablooey anyway... If the
fixture has both dimmed and undimmed switch settings, I would use only
undimmed with the CFL - but you still may need "lawyer power" if things go
KABLOOEY because your fire insurance company's lawyer can argue that you
had the switch on "dim" and turned the switch to "full" after the CFL
became obviously mortally wounded - a bad thing to do since the worse
diode overheating problems from DC or pulsating DC tend to get worsened by
going back to AC after a diode or two got toasted by use of DC.

- Don Klipstein )

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Mon 19 Oct 2009 06:32:25a, Mark Lloyd told us...

On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:39:48 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:

On Sun 18 Oct 2009 11:01:34a, Mark Lloyd told us...

On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:27:08 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:
[snip]

Don't know if it is actually bad for the eyes or not, but it does
probably reduce bumped shins when you get up to run to the can during
commercials. I usually just leave the light at the far end of the
kitchen turned on.
And the light makes it harder to accidentally step on a cat. They're
something like the other things you can bump into, but are mobile and
can be found in unexpected places.

I keep a string of green LED holiday lights on all the time.

BTW, some of the lights (some in each series) have gone out over time,
but others are still lit. That's strange.
Actually, not at all strange. Typically these lights are wired in
series,
but the bulbs are designed to fuse the filament together when they burn
out
so that the circuit is still completed.
LEDs don't have filaments, but semiconductor junctions.

Yup, I missed that on first reading. However, there must be something in
the circuit that insures continuity when the led fails.

I don't have one to look at, but there is a good chance they are all
wired parallel and each LED has a resistor built in or added.