are compact florescent lights "leaky"

Clark1961

Clark1961

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So a light compact florescent light fixture was flickering on two of the three bulbs. If I touched the fixture the flickering would go away and steady light would result...for awhile.

Corrective action taken: disassemble, inspect, clean bonding wire (some folks would call it "ground") and reassemble.

Light is now flicker free. This is 120 volt AC stuff so bonding shouldn't be an issue (it seems to me) unless the ballasts are shedding electrons. Okay, is this a high frequency thing and just part of compact florescent bulbs?
 
You're taking something that really ought to be a well built part of the fixture and building it into a 'disposable' item and the price and quality of the part used matches.
 
flyingron said:
You're taking something that really ought to be a well built part of the fixture and building it into a 'disposable' item and the price and quality of the part used matches.
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Yeah, I never really got why they went to this integrated bulb/starter model, it increases costs and decreases service, it's totally stupid.
 
Henning said:
Yeah, I never really got why they went to this integrated bulb/starter model, it increases costs and decreases service, it's totally stupid.
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You're talking about parts that don't exist in the 'installed base' of incandescent fixtures. People wouldn't buy the CFL replacement if it wasn't a direct "screw-in" replacement.

I don't care for the lag time of CFLs. Where I have multiple bulbs the 40-60w equivalents are almost bright enough as soon as you turn them on; 100w equivalents are considerably slower. I have been opportunistically replacing burnt-out bulbs with LED replacements or fixtures, particularly in my high-ceiling rooms so I don't have to get on a ladder as frequently. I can't say I really care for the color temperature of most LEDs, though.
 
DJTorrente said:
You're talking about parts that don't exist in the 'installed base' of incandescent fixtures. People wouldn't buy the CFL replacement if it wasn't a direct "screw-in" replacement.

I don't care for the lag time of CFLs. Where I have multiple bulbs the 40-60w equivalents are almost bright enough as soon as you turn them on; 100w equivalents are considerably slower. I have been opportunistically replacing burnt-out bulbs with LED replacements or fixtures, particularly in my high-ceiling rooms so I don't have to get on a ladder as frequently. I can't say I really care for the color temperature of most LEDs, though.
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No worries, you can build a better screw in starter/ballast base with a slip pin bulb. You can add 15% cost to them and give them 60% more value.
 
flyingron said:
You're taking something that really ought to be a well built part of the fixture and building it into a 'disposable' item and the price and quality of the part used matches.
Click to expand...

CFLs would have never become an option if you had to buy all new light fixtures which had integrated starters. That being said, once LED's come down in price in a few years, CFLs will likely die out, too. No flicker or cold temperature start issues, 30+ year lives, many with multi-color options and near-infinite color temperature options all with less draw than the CFL.
 
SoonerAviator said:
CFLs would have never become an option if you had to buy all new light fixtures which had integrated starters. That being said, once LED's come down in price in a few years, CFLs will likely die out, too. No flicker or cold temperature start issues, 30+ year lives, many with multi-color options and near-infinite color temperature options all with less draw than the CFL.
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Most all yachts have installed LED replacements for MR and G series halogens. Between the savings in heat/air conditioning requirements, the halogens were needing to be replaced every couple of months, and they are not particularly cheap.
 
Henning said:
No worries, you can build a better screw in starter/ballast base with a slip pin bulb. You can add 15% cost to them and give them 60% more value.
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Maybe they "can" build better but in my case they obviously didn't - it is a slip-pin fixture. Obviously a cheaply made one although I didn't pay so cheap of price. Thanks Lowe's. At least it's working now but it's a little freaky that: 1) it leaks and 2) a little leakage causes a malfunction.
 
Clark1961 said:
Maybe they "can" build better but in my case they obviously didn't - it is a slip-pin fixture. Obviously a cheaply made one although I didn't pay so cheap of price. Thanks Lowe's. At least it's working now but it's a little freaky that: 1) it leaks and 2) a little leakage causes a malfunction.
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That is because the mandate is to make the greatest profit, not make the best product.
 
SoonerAviator said:
CFLs would have never become an option if you had to buy all new light fixtures which had integrated starters. That being said, once LED's come down in price in a few years, CFLs will likely die out, too. No flicker or cold temperature start issues, 30+ year lives, many with multi-color options and near-infinite color temperature options all with less draw than the CFL.
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You don't have to buy new light fixtures to separate the disposable part of the CFL from the ballast/starter. However, it's a marketing problem trying to convince people to adopt a different paradigm from the historical throw the whole freaking thing away when it stops working.

Some of the early fluorescent-in-edison socket solutions worked that way just fine.
 
CFLs are crap. They don't last. They have "special" disposal procedures. And still about 5 times more expensive than the incandescent bulbs. LEDs are still about 10 times more.
And let's get real. They more energy we save by replacing our incandescent we are now paying the power companies 50% more. All in all, a loss in whatever we might have saved if, in fact CFLs lasted their supposed 10 years.
 
silver-eagle said:
CFLs are crap. They don't last. They have "special" disposal procedures. And still about 5 times more expensive than the incandescent bulbs. LEDs are still about 10 times more.
And let's get real. They more energy we save by replacing our incandescent we are now paying the power companies 50% more. All in all, a loss in whatever we might have saved if, in fact CFLs lasted their supposed 10 years.
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In northern/cold climates they don't particularly save total energy either. What they found is the spot heating value of incandescent bulbs saves in overall heating costs. In Europe you can't buy an incandescent light bulb, but if you go to the heater aisle you can find their relabeled equivalent.:rolleyes:

On boats where you have to make all your own electricity, and heat from lighting is a major fire hazard, LEDs are a no brainer for conversion especially since it's already DC lighting for the most part (dimming and even driving LEDs on AC is still crappy).
 
silver-eagle said:
CFLs are crap. They don't last. They have "special" disposal procedures. And still about 5 times more expensive than the incandescent bulbs. LEDs are still about 10 times more.
And let's get real. They more energy we save by replacing our incandescent we are now paying the power companies 50% more. All in all, a loss in whatever we might have saved if, in fact CFLs lasted their supposed 10 years.
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:yeahthat:


I've bought about five CLFs over the years and they've all failed much sooner than advertised. I'm replacing incandescent with LED now. In our area the utilities are subsidizing the cost. You can buy two 60, 75 or 100 watt equivalent LED bulbs for 4 bucks at Walmart around here. I buy the 2700k temps, pretty close to incandescent in my book, haven't had one fail yet.
 
My entire house is CFL and LED. I use CFLs in the lights that don't dim or where the short "warm up" period is not ugly. The cans in the kitchen, all the dimable lights, and all the outside lights are LED. I use all 5000k lamps, so my entire house is that crisp white light. It's the brightest, sharpest looking thing on the block. And in 2 years, I haven't replaced a burned out light once. The difference to the electric bill is very noticeable too.

Everything except the headlights in my car is LED too. Slowly working on the plane :)
 
Pedals2Paddles said:
My entire house is CFL and LED. I use CFLs in the lights that don't dim or where the short "warm up" period is not ugly. The cans in the kitchen, all the dimable lights, and all the outside lights are LED. I use all 5000k lamps, so my entire house is that crisp white light. It's the brightest, sharpest looking thing on the block. And in 2 years, I haven't replaced a burned out light once. The difference to the electric bill is very noticeable too.

Everything except the headlights in my car is LED too. Slowly working on the plane :)
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I have one 5,000k in my garage, too harsh for me indoors, but it is bright and great for the garage.
 
It is definitely something you need to like. Very different than your normal 2500-3000k lights. I happen to love it. But I do actually have a 2700k in a table lamp in the living room for when I want a dimmly lit relaxing mood.


<< Sent from my mobile device at 0agl >>
 
I mix them between warm and cool whites in some zones like the galley and over the dining table, and sometimes as an accent, but for the most part I use all warm white, and there is a difference in exact hue and tone between brands.

Then there are the scratch LED systems that use multicolor bulbs and the exact color and intensity can be dialed in as you want.
 
My CFLs leak so much light that I'm replacing them with LEDs. Still using normal bulbs for reading, as LEDs aren't out yet in the 100-150 watt range, and I despise fluorescent lights. The little corkscrew ones aren't any better than the 48" tubes, they just fit into lamps and spread poor lighting around.
 
I've spent about $600 on LED's so far. I another $4-500 to go, but I love the rooms I've done. Instant on and cool, the latter makes a huge difference in summer.
 
I've been putting them around in places especially in fixtures like the ones on the corner of the hangar that I need to get a 30' extension ladder out to replace.
 
Ron, those are the times to break out the extension pole with an apple basket on the end. We used it in the last house to change bulbs in the flush mount ceiling fan in the two story foyer before I got tired and put the fan on a downrod, which of course required a new fan. The fun part was getting myself up to the ceiling, two stories up . . .
 
Hank S said:
Ron, those are the times to break out the extension pole with an apple basket on the end. We used it in the last house to change bulbs in the flush mount ceiling fan in the two story foyer before I got tired and put the fan on a downrod, which of course required a new fan. The fun part was getting myself up to the ceiling, two stories up . . .
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That works fine for the ones in the recessed fixtures but these are the floods on the corners of the hangar that stick out at about a 45 degree angle.

More most of the lights inside the hangar and outside where I can wheel it on the hard surface I can use my little hydraulic lift.
 
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