Jonathan said:
On 7 Dec 2006 09:32:25 -0800,
[email protected] wrote:
[snip]
Other benefits are: time saved in replacing bulbs, fewer trips to the
store, etc.
Only if your experiences were mine. Sadly, they aren't.
Right. Obviously there are no benefits to an unreliable product.
I'm wishing my experience were different.
Ideas: they're electronic, ergo zappable.
o Maybe you've got glitchy power? (Mine is super clean--no outages for
years.)
It's possible. I haven't put a monitor on our power to see. I don't
see anything different here from other places I've lived, device
operation wise. Other equipment, such as all my scopes, power
supplies, logic analyzers, signal generators, and so on appear to work
fine and as before I moved here in 2002. Similarly, for the usual
complement of household devices. So aside from this, I don't have any
experience that speaks loudly to me. But an instrument set to monitor
the power is the better way to know and I haven't done that.
o Base-up mounted CFLs in sealed enclosures can cook themselves to
death.
I've opened up several dead ones. They look fine, inside. Nothing I
can see is 'toasted.' However, I don't have many lamp stands in the
house (close to 0, maybe 1) so all my lights are inverted so that the
base is above the coiled tube and since heat rises they may indeed get
warm.
From the data sheet I was looking at, "shoddy" would mean failing to
add parts in a crafted design to intelligently extend their life. So
if by 'shoddy construction' you mean "a design to save every nickel
possible so don't do those things that we know will extend life beyond
some 'far enough out' figure, since that means more cost up front and
less sales against competition that isn't doing it, the customer won't
know the difference, and anyway we want to sell more, not less," then
perhaps you are right about that.
Cracking a failed unit open and checking transistors & electrolytics
would answer a lot.
I've cracked them open. I haven't bothered checking parts, though. I
could do that.
My current bathroom unit is a SunPark brand, model SP-20L, in service
for years The heavily-used kitchen overhead, a Lights Of America brand
model 2420, has been working for years. Another heavily-used is in the
kitchen hood light, a Commercial Electric model ES20, SKU #738-703
(pretty sure I got it at Home Depot). It strikes and lights instantly
at reduced output--I like that--then brightens up over the next minute
or so.
Another possibility is the rms voltage level of our power here. It's
possible that we have an elevated voltage.... Ah, heck... just a
sec... Okay, I am measuring a true RMS of 123.48V here.
Maybe they want something less?