CFL bulbs means Can FLame ?

[Elixer]

What the heck is this crap, was sitting at the desk, when all of the sudden, I smell smoke.
I check the computer where I was, and no, no smoke from there, then, I see a bright flash out of the corner of my eye, and the damn CFL bulb was smoking & flaming!
I quickly yanked the plug, and opened a window.

How is it possible that they sell this kind of crap, the "normal" incandescent bulbs that were good for decades, never attempted to burn down the house.

I would hate to think what would have happened if I wasn't home when the CFL decided to go up in flames.

This CFL is also less than 1 year old.
It was in a normal desk lamp, rated for 100w (incandescent) was using a 20w CFL.

Now, I am wondering how the other CFLs in the house will behave... strongly thinking of saying screw it, and go back to all incandescent.
Looking on google, it seems this isn't uncommon at all, and it can happen with both CFLs & LED based bulbs.

 

[Blackjack200]

Inflammable means Flammable?

What a country!

 

[Schfifty Five]

What the heck is this crap, was sitting at the desk, when all of the sudden, I smell smoke.
I check the computer where I was, and no, no smoke from there, then, I see a bright flash out of the corner of my eye, and the damn CFL bulb was smoking & flaming!
I quickly yanked the plug, and opened a window.

How is it possible that they sell this kind of crap, the "normal" incandescent bulbs that were good for decades, never attempted to burn down the house.

I would hate to think what would have happened if I wasn't home when the CFL decided to go up in flames.

This CFL is also less than 1 year old.
It was in a normal desk lamp, rated for 100w (incandescent) was using a 20w CFL.

Now, I am wondering how the other CFLs in the house will behave... strongly thinking of saying screw it, and go back to all incandescent.
Looking on google, it seems this isn't uncommon at all, and it can happen with both CFLs & LED based bulbs.

Do you leave your lights on when you go out? If not, then you shouldn't worry about it catching fire in the off position. However, if you do leave your lights on, better make it a habit to turn everything off when you step out.

 

[ThinClient]

What the heck is this crap, was sitting at the desk, when all of the sudden, I smell smoke.
I check the computer where I was, and no, no smoke from there, then, I see a bright flash out of the corner of my eye, and the damn CFL bulb was smoking & flaming!
I quickly yanked the plug, and opened a window.

How is it possible that they sell this kind of crap, the "normal" incandescent bulbs that were good for decades, never attempted to burn down the house.

I would hate to think what would have happened if I wasn't home when the CFL decided to go up in flames.

This CFL is also less than 1 year old.
It was in a normal desk lamp, rated for 100w (incandescent) was using a 20w CFL.

Now, I am wondering how the other CFLs in the house will behave... strongly thinking of saying screw it, and go back to all incandescent.
Looking on google, it seems this isn't uncommon at all, and it can happen with both CFLs & LED based bulbs.

Yes, your one singular experience dictates that all products act this way.

 

[Imp]

Did you hold the base or the glass when screwing it in?

 

[Imp]

P.S. CFLs are complete shit compared to LEDs.

 

[rsutoratosu]

a lot of my cfl from 8 years ago have "burned" out, you see burn marks on the coil by base.. i'm about 25% led now.. still a lot to switch but I dont want to go out and buy all new bulbs till the cfl fully dies..

 

[darkswordsman17]

I'm pretty sure incandescents have caused fires too, and what bulbs were you using that lasted for decades?

Are you even sure it was the bulb (maybe something got in the lamp)? Could be just a defective one, and if so I'd contact the manufacturer.

 

[KLin]

Inflammable means Flammable?

What a country!

Archer found that out in season 1

 

[sourceninja]

CFL's don't seem to handle voltage irregularities well in my experience. This is just one of the reasons I've gone to LED bulbs (cree mostly).

Plus I feel they have better color spectrum.

 

[Elixer]

Did you hold the base or the glass when screwing it in?

Base.

Yes, your one singular experience dictates that all products act this way.

I said *can*, I didn't say *will*.

I'm pretty sure incandescents have caused fires too, and what bulbs were you using that lasted for decades?

Are you even sure it was the bulb (maybe something got in the lamp)? Could be just a defective one, and if so I'd contact the manufacturer.

I never said the incandescent *lasted* decades, I said they were good for decades, as in, they have been in use with little issues for decades.

How does something get into the socket of the lamp, when there is a bulb in that socket ? There are no other openings that aren't covered/sealed, so, everything points to bulb failure.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Base.

I said *can*, I didn't say *will*.

I never said the incandescent *lasted* decades, I said they were good for decades, as in, they have been in use with little issues for decades.

How does something get into the socket of the lamp, when there is a bulb in that socket ? There are no other openings that aren't covered/sealed, so, everything points to bulb failure.

You're making some pretty generalizations based off of your one incident.

 

[SunnyD]

I just changed out a fairly new bulb that came with one of the ceiling fans I put up in my house a few months ago. The bulb was making funny noises and flickering, or so I was told. Upon inspection, there was a small maybe 1mm hole in the glass at the neck of the tube and a portion of the phosphor around the hole was blackened.

The way the hole looked, it more than likely was a manufacturing defect, but I'm surprised the bulb even worked at all.

 

[Pulsar]

What the heck is this crap, was sitting at the desk, when all of the sudden, I smell smoke.
I check the computer where I was, and no, no smoke from there, then, I see a bright flash out of the corner of my eye, and the damn CFL bulb was smoking & flaming!
I quickly yanked the plug, and opened a window.

How is it possible that they sell this kind of crap, the "normal" incandescent bulbs that were good for decades, never attempted to burn down the house.

I would hate to think what would have happened if I wasn't home when the CFL decided to go up in flames.

This CFL is also less than 1 year old.
It was in a normal desk lamp, rated for 100w (incandescent) was using a 20w CFL.

Now, I am wondering how the other CFLs in the house will behave... strongly thinking of saying screw it, and go back to all incandescent.
Looking on google, it seems this isn't uncommon at all, and it can happen with both CFLs & LED based bulbs.

Snort.

I was sitting in my living room with my wife two years ago, when we heard a 'pop'. An incandescent - just the bulb - went flying over our head into the wall. I thought that a bit odd. It had broken free from our light on the cathedral ceiling, and instead of just falling it actually fired it nearly sideways. The bulbs are at a 45 degree angle in the ceiling fixture. The base of the bulb was still screwed in to the light fixture. So I shut it off and replaced it.

Over the next 3 weeks, we would periodically hear a 'pop', and one of those bulbs would go flying.

I suspect we just got a bad batch of bulbs where the glass wasn't bonded to the base, and the thermal stress as they heated was enough to launch them....... but we still wonder.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Base.

I said *can*, I didn't say *will*.

I never said the incandescent *lasted* decades, I said they were good for decades, as in, they have been in use with little issues for decades.

How does something get into the socket of the lamp, when there is a bulb in that socket ? There are no other openings that aren't covered/sealed, so, everything points to bulb failure.

So have CFLs.

I've seen bugs and mice do that. I've also seen people screw in bulbs so that they aren't in the socket right.

 

[Rvenger]

I have had a few CFLs smoke on me before. Watch the generic brands. The good ones have vents in the plastic housing.

 

[Mark R]

P.S. CFLs are complete shit compared to LEDs.

That depends. I've had some fantastic LEDs, and some truly craptastic LEDs.

I bought a set of 8 LED bulbsonce - the edge of the beam was yellow, and the center was deep blue; the bulbs were "live" to the touch, and 4 out of 8 burned out within 1 week, with 1 of them bursting into flames, melting the lamp holder and scorching the ceiling.

 

[KeithTalent]

You're way off. Pretty sure it means Canadian Football League.

KT

 

[Tommy2000GT]

I found that CFL's last the same as incandescent light bulbs for me. I'm unsure how they come up with 5 year lifespans.

 

[pyonir]

You're way off. Pretty sure it means Canadian Football League.

KT

Typical self centered Canadian...everything is always about YOU.

 

[taserbro]

I've spent some mind-boggling amount of my time nerding over LEDs and everything that has to do with illumination so I hope I can provide a bit of insight.

CFLs are ballasted. Meaning, they have a voltage regulation circuit that has to charge a capacitor and arc through the gas in the glass tube every time you turn it on which is a lot of stress on the electronic components. In that way, how reliable a CFL light bulb is, rests entirely on the quality of the components used to make the ballast and tube because those things will burn up just like any cheap electronics that's designed within specs to last barely longer than the warranty. Turning anything that's ballasted (arclamps are also in this category) on and off repeatedly for no reason will also not help their health.

Apply Sturgeon's law and the fact that most people tend to buy the 75cents CFLs while scoffing at the idiots who would spend more than 15 bucks on the high quality ones and you have people being surprised that their cheap made-in-china crap fails within a year. That said, you can probably afford a dozen crappy ones for the price of a single high quality one; the real question is do you want to be miserable for 12 years or in heaven for 5?

Quality CFL tubes can have surprisingly good efficiency, longevity and decent CRI. LED bulbs can potentially have up to 3 times the efficiency, 10 times the longevity and amazing, almost-incandescent-like CRI with much better color temperatures but are still expensive as hell. LEDs, while also requiring electronic regulation circuits, have the advantage of failing in much more graceful ways; they blow and don't turn into an incendiary device (unless the electronic going with it comes from the same 99 cents factory your CFL ballast came from) and unlike incandescent bulbs, CFLs and arclamps, they don't just go poof and leave you in the dark, usually slowly fading on a curve for much longer than their rated time to failure indicates giving you plenty of time to replace it. Keep in mind that LEDs driven at spec still require heatsinking. Don't buy the cheap junk that blatantly skips on the heatsinking to save a buck on the bottom line or you'll discover that they won't last the 100 000 hours that they advertise either.

Just like everything else, you get what you pay for.

 

[who?]

If a lot of peoples air conditioners in your area had shut off at the same time this may have caused line voltage to surge pretty high and these surges may have destroyed your bulb.

 

[who?]

I've thought about getting a voltage event recorder just to see how line voltage behaves but I didn't want to spend the $600 plus and now that model is discontinued and the replacement is over $1200.

 

[Imp]

That depends. I've had some fantastic LEDs, and some truly craptastic LEDs.

I bought a set of 8 LED bulbsonce - the edge of the beam was yellow, and the center was deep blue; the bulbs were "live" to the touch, and 4 out of 8 burned out within 1 week, with 1 of them bursting into flames, melting the lamp holder and scorching the ceiling.

I was mainly thinking about the mercury, UV, and warm up time.

How can a light bulb contain/emit so much toxic shit?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I had a CFL make a funny venting sound and burn out once when turned on, but I'm pretty sure it had to do with the fact that I had previously accidentally hit it with something and half the spiral was missing. :biggrin:

Though the best was this:



It stayed like that for a month and worked fine then I decided I should probably try to fix it, but I ended up breaking the thread of the bulb and having to throw it out. That one got hit with a 2x4...

I'd say half the CFLs that died on me were due to my own clumsiness. :awe: