Has anybody looked at the electronics inside compact fluorescent
lights
and found any differences between the good and bad brands?

I have some MaxLites that quit working after 6-24 months, and they all
have failed power transistors, but the big 200V, 22uF capacitor in the
middle seems OK, and there's a missing positive temp. coeff.
thermistor. The lamp attaches to the circuit board through wire wraps
with plain copper wire that's oxidized and loose.

larry moe 'n curly wrote:
Has anybody looked at the electronics inside compact fluorescent
lights
and found any differences between the good and bad brands?

I have some MaxLites that quit working after 6-24 months, and they all
have failed power transistors, but the big 200V, 22uF capacitor in the
middle seems OK, and there's a missing positive temp. coeff.
thermistor. The lamp attaches to the circuit board through wire wraps
with plain copper wire that's oxidized and loose.



It's just like any other equipment, the better stuff has better quality
soldering and fewer corners cut.

James Sweet writes:

larry moe 'n curly wrote:
Has anybody looked at the electronics inside compact fluorescent
lights
and found any differences between the good and bad brands?
I have some MaxLites that quit working after 6-24 months, and they
all
have failed power transistors, but the big 200V, 22uF capacitor in the
middle seems OK, and there's a missing positive temp. coeff.
thermistor. The lamp attaches to the circuit board through wire wraps
with plain copper wire that's oxidized and loose.

It's just like any other equipment, the better stuff has better
quality soldering and fewer corners cut.

Right. Look for bad solder joints. These things tend to self
destruct (the power transistors) when a bad connection develops.

Wire wrap isn't necessarily bad though if it's done properly even
with bare copper.

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Sam Goldwasser wrote:

Wire wrap isn't necessarily bad though if it's done properly even
with bare copper.

It wasn't done properly in some 1970s Japanese TVs. The only joints
I've had to repair on my Sears-Sanyo TVs of that vintage are the
wirewraps on the flybacks.

The better compact fluorescents tend to use electrolytics rated for
125C instead of 105C or have more vent holes.

Just avoid anything that says ":lights of AMerica".. They aren't made
in the USA as far as I can tell and they don't last very long.

H. R.(Bob) Hofmann

wrote:
Just avoid anything that says ":lights of AMerica".. They aren't made
in the USA as far as I can tell and they don't last very long.

H. R.(Bob) Hofmann



LOA is the worst of the worst Chinese crap, most any CFL is Chinese
these days, but some are far better than others. IIRC some of the
Panasonic lamps are made in Japan and last quite well, I've also had
good luck with Philips and GE. The springlamps that you can get
everywhere are very hit and miss, I've had some last for far longer than
their rated life, others have died in weeks. Some I've repaired just
because I can, others failed in a way that killed the tube itself.

James Sweet wrote:

LOA is the worst of the worst Chinese crap,.

Another bad brand is ABCO, Angelo Brothers COmpany, including their
incandescents.

wrote:
James Sweet wrote:


LOA is the worst of the worst Chinese crap,.


Another bad brand is ABCO, Angelo Brothers COmpany, including their
incandescents.

Slightly OT: bought a pocket knife at a closeouts/overstocks auction the
other day; branded 'Old America Knife Company.' It is a reasonably well
made--extremely sharp--piece of cutlery...at least for $5 anyway.

The inscription on one of the blades reads: "Old America Knife Company"
and "Hand Made."

On the other it says "Old America", and the kicker: **"They way the same
had it."**

On the tang, it says "CHINA"....

I wonder how far down the retail chain these got, before someone spotted
the Engrish and pulled the remainder off the shelves.

G

jak

wrote:

Just avoid anything that says ":lights of AMerica".. They aren't made
in the USA as far as I can tell and they don't last very long.

H. R.(Bob) Hofmann


We use about 30 of the 13w spirals for outside lighting in our
homeowners association. We previously used 150w HP sodium vapor but
these were too bright and too wasteful in terms of energy....however, we
only had to replace these every 5 years.

I was warned about LOA but ignored it. They had a high infant mortality
rate and did not last very long but they did save a lot on energy. Now,
we just use whatever Costco has (currently Feit.) Sure they do not last
5 years, but when our electric company (PGE) has instant rebates, I can
buy 8 bulbs for only $2. So I just end up replacing the bulbs more
often, but we save a lot on energy.

I am anxiously awaiting a 60w incandescent equivalent version of a LED
bulb with a 20000 hour life.

Caesar Valenti wrote:
wrote:

Just avoid anything that says ":lights of AMerica".. They aren't made
in the USA as far as I can tell and they don't last very long.

H. R.(Bob) Hofmann


We use about 30 of the 13w spirals for outside lighting in our
homeowners association. We previously used 150w HP sodium vapor but
these were too bright and too wasteful in terms of energy....however, we
only had to replace these every 5 years.

I was warned about LOA but ignored it. They had a high infant mortality
rate and did not last very long but they did save a lot on energy. Now,
we just use whatever Costco has (currently Feit.) Sure they do not last
5 years, but when our electric company (PGE) has instant rebates, I can
buy 8 bulbs for only $2. So I just end up replacing the bulbs more
often, but we save a lot on energy.

I am anxiously awaiting a 60w incandescent equivalent version of a LED
bulb with a 20000 hour life.

Hi...

Can't resist asking. Given that you use them outdoors, what's your
coldest winter temperature in them thar parts? And have they ever
failed to light solely due to low temps?

Thanks, and take care.

Ken

" I am anxiously awaiting a 60w incandescent equivalent version of a
LED
bulb with a 20000 hour life"

I have ruined enough light bulbs this year by sudden jolts that led
would save me money in that area alone. I have replace some of them
with spiral florescent because of subsidized low price. I found that
they are a lot more durable on impact ( unless directed at the glass
bulb itself). If fact with a home made collar (like a dog collar a vet
gives so it can,t lick the wounds or such) that keeps the florescent
bulb snug in the fixture (heavier bullb bends socket and contacts
glass) can be dropped at least 4 feet and still work. Regular light
bulbs burn out (look at any hollywood movie that shows lamps knocked
over and etc.). Now I would think a led (60watt) replacement in a
secure fixture could survive anything if the fixture is strong enough.
I have yet to kill a led bulb other than damaging the power source and
fixture itself.

I was warned about LOA but ignored it. They had a high infant mortality
rate and did not last very long but they did save a lot on energy. Now,
we just use whatever Costco has (currently Feit.) Sure they do not last
5 years, but when our electric company (PGE) has instant rebates, I can
buy 8 bulbs for only $2. So I just end up replacing the bulbs more
often, but we save a lot on energy.


Just make sure you recycle the lamps, at least in my area it's now
illegal to throw mercury containing lamps in the garbage (which includes
fluorescent, HPS, metal halide, and mercury vapor lamps.)

You're right about the savings though, I replaced some 50W HPS wall
packs at my mom's house with 23W daylight CFLs, less than half the power
and with the grass and trees it actually looks *brighter* back there
despite much lower brightness on paper. Amazing the difference white
light makes.


I am anxiously awaiting a 60w incandescent equivalent version of a LED
bulb with a 20000 hour life.


It will be nice if LEDs improve substantially to the point where this is
practical. Right now they're great for producing light of a specific
color, rather than taking an inneficient incandescent source and
throwing away 90% of the light with a filter, you can create the color
you want directly. For producing white light though they're not very
efficient at all, only slightly better than incandescent at far higher
cost and the color rendering is poor.

Hi...

Can't resist asking. Given that you use them outdoors, what's your
coldest winter temperature in them thar parts? And have they ever
failed to light solely due to low temps?

Thanks, and take care.

Ken



I use quite a few CFLs outdoors as well, the coldest it's gotten down to
here in recent memory was about 25F, the lamps were very dim when first
turned on and took a few minutes to fully warm up, but in dusk till dawn
use they're fine. If the fixture is not enclosed though you should get
the encapsulated CFLs, the bare tubes can have trouble reaching full
brightness.

Ken Weitzel wrote:
Can't resist asking. Given that you use them outdoors, what's your
coldest winter temperature in them thar parts? And have they ever
failed to light solely due to low temps?

I use the CF units from Costco also. I haven't known them to fail to
light or stay lit; I think 13 F was about the coldest at the time I
lit them and probably 4 F the coldest they stayed on when lit earlier.

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