Chris,
One of the points made in your post, but not emphasized, is safety. Of the
CFLs that I have, only 1 did the "cook and sizzle" routine, and that was at
first turn-on! All others have just gone dead, period.
I have gotten so frustrated with short CFL life that I now use a permanent
marker to place the installation date on the white base materal of each
CFL. Note that most, if not all, CFLs sold in North America do bear the "c
UL us" label, which means the manuafturer has gotten safety approvel from
UL for their design of the bulb for Canada and US usage. If any of the
"approved" bulbs should show scorching or other signs of excessive heat, I
suggest that it might be a good idea to take photos of the bulb and contact
both UL and Consumer Union. CU does accept product failure info from
consumers.
I installed a pair of Sylvania (but "Made in China") CFLs in the protected
lamp fixtures on either side of my garage door in 2009. One bulb died
recently - just plain quit. I replaced it with another of the same brand
and type, only to see it last 2 nights and then die. The package says
"10,000 Hours" typical life. The first one lasted, by my estimate, roughly
6000 hours - not too bad, but nowhere close to 10 khours. The second one
ran for about 16 hours and croaked. Keep in mind that one of the original
bulbs is still running and may get to 10 khours. We'll see.
I find the comments and testing for dying bulbs to be of interest. I have
not conducted any such RFI tests on any of the CFLs in my house, but I
think I'll give it a try. You are correct about these bulbs being driven
by el cheapo power supplies, but I think they can last a long time if there
is some care used in both the design and construction of those power
supplies. Incidentally, I have the first CFL I ever bought STILL running!
It is a Philips 40 watt-equivalent, made in Poland, and running in daily
use since mid-2000. I have never detected noise from it. It is used in a
lamp atop a dresser, runs base down, and works fine, but is slow to come up
to full output.
73, Dale
WA9ENA
> [Original Message]
> From: Christopher Brown <cbrown@woods.net>
> To: <rfi@contesting.com>
> Date: 12/23/2011 3:25:21
> Subject: Re: [RFI] CFL list, anywhere?
>
> You might want to re-think that.
>
>
> There are plenty of noisy from the factory bulbs out there, but when one
> goes from quiet to noisy take some care.
>
> It could environment, a new outlets, new device plugged in, extension
> cord, whatever that just made your house wiring a better antenna.
>
> BUT, one of the common reasons for the bulb to go noisy is that the
> little switching power supply in the base is failing. It could be
> because this is a very small cheaply made supply, or because the fixture
> it is in retains heat and the supply has been running hot, does not
> really matter.
>
> The point being, these do not always fail safe. I have had a couple
> where the failing supply started running very hot and was melting the
> case (caught them by smell), a family member had one fail and blow a
> chuck out of the plastic case and throw a few sparks. One bad case I
> know of a failure of this type also involved flammable material near the
> fixture and resulted in a house fire.
>
>
> I still have CFLs, but only in about 20% of the fixtures. Hall lights,
> etc. I walk the house with a little pickup loop every few months
> checking for noise anyway, I wave the pickup near the CFLs when I do.
> Any time I catch one that has a large jump in noise I replace it. About
> half the time they show discoloration on the case, from a hot running
> switcher.
>
> The good ones seem to last, not had to replace any this year but seems
> to be a gamble. Buy a 12 pack of GE, all quiet day1, 5 failed or went
> noisy in the first year. Rest are still happy after 3. Have used every
> locally avail brand not stamped "made in china" with similar results.
>
>
>
> On 12/23/11 11:41 AM, Eric - VE3GSI wrote:
> > This CFL can be added to the list.
> >
> > Name of Bulb: 'globe' Mini-Spiral 23W
> > Made in China BH0304
> > Rating 120V 60Hz 380 ma
> > FCC ID:N6AFJEE0302
> >
> > Now, it should be noted when new, this bulb produced no noise. The CFL
bulb
> > is now about 2 yrs old and starting to produce wide band noise covering
80
> > meters picked up on a dipole about 100' from the bulb in question.. My
> > daytime floor noise is normally zero, so it is easy for me to hear even
the
> > slightest change of noise on the band. Those with higher floor noise
may not
> > notice the less then s-1 noise (max). My thinking is any
> > electrical/electronic noise is bad even if hidden below any background
> > noise.
> >
> > The bulb now lives in a less used utility room.
> >
> > Eric - VE3GSI
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Andy"
> >
> >> Howdy, all,
> >>
> >> Does anyone know of a good email list or forum concerning the subject
> >> of CFLs (compact fluorescents)?
> >>
> >> I know, why would someone want to use them, right? Actually, though,
> >> I am one of those whose experiences with them have been moderately
> >> good overall. But I figure, they are going to be with us for a while
> >> to come, so I am looking for a place to discuss them, why they
> >> sometimes don't work, why they fail, without being Off-Topic in a
> >> group like this one.
> >>
> >> Does anyone know of a site/list? Preferably not something sponsored
> >> by a manufacturer, but will take that if that's all there is.
> >>
> >> (And please, let's not take this as an invitation to discuss the pros
> >> and cons of CFLs here!)
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Andy
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > RFI mailing list
> > RFI@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
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