Defective CFL? Just burnt the hell out of myself AGAIN

[aphex]

Thats twice now within a week, WTF!!!!!

So the CFL bulb in our living room table lamp wasn't turning on. Odd, CFL's usually last awhile. Checked the plug, all good. Switch on the wall was working. So i reached up and touched the bulb (it was off, and the bulb never lit in the 2 minutes I tried to turn it on, so i figured it wouldn't be hot). HOLY HELL! My left middle finger touched first, and unfortunately it was so freaking hot my finger just stuck to the bulb. I actually had to pull it off with some force as the heat seared my finger right to the damn thing.

WTF is going on. I've seen defective bulbs before, but never in hell have I ever felt ANYTHING that hot in my life. Even when i accidentally branded my arm last week, it didn't hurt half as bad as this thing.

So as the blisters on my arm heal, now I get one on my finger

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Originally posted by: aphex
Thats twice now within a week, WTF!!!!!

So the CFL bulb in our living room table lamp wasn't turning on. Odd, CFL's usually last awhile. Checked the plug, all good. Switch on the wall was working. So i reached up and touched the bulb (it was off, and the bulb never lit in the 2 minutes I tried to turn it on, so i figured it wouldn't be hot). HOLY HELL! My left middle finger touched first, and unfortunately it was so freaking hot my finger just stuck to the bulb. I actually had to pull it off with some force as the heat seared my finger right to the damn thing.

WTF is going on. I've seen defective bulbs before, but never in hell have I ever felt ANYTHING that hot in my life. Even when i accidentally branded my arm last week, it didn't hurt half as bad as this thing.

So as the blisters on my arm heal, now I get one on my finger

Your third burn ought to be along any minute now.

 

[aphex]

Looking closely at the bulb itself, it almost looks as if it was smoking INSIDE the bulb itself, there are dark smoky marks down near the base inside the tube.

 

[Shawn]

Maybe the ballast is bad.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Maybe the ballast is bad.

Would that make it insanely hot, even if it wasn't lit?

 

[Jeff7]

It probably hurts more because your fingers have a lot more nerves than the side of your arm.


A bad ballast, possibly with a component that's starting to short out, could make it get hot.


What brand is it, and how old?



I bought some Litetronics CFL's at 1000bulbs.com. They're just about the same length as an incandescent bulb, reach full brightness very quickly, and use new T2 technology. They also use just 1mg of mercury.
I have a bit more confidence in them than what I'd expect out of an economy pack of GE CFL's at Walmart. Better quality light, too - nice color temp, with a high color rendering index.

 

[Squisher]

I didn't catch your branded thread. My friend did the same thing with a metal caged Trouble Light under a car. By the time he crawled out of there it said "Warning Hot" on his arm only backwards.