CFLs taking forever to illuminate

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Electron_Sam78

Senior Member
Location
Palm Bay, FL
I got some made in China CFL fixtures and bulbs from an online source and some of them take nearly 30 seconds to come on. I don't mean a low glow then warm up to full brightness I mean not even a flicker for 30 seconds. The fixtures only have a small transformer and the bulbs are single tube bi-pin, 13 watt. Can I add anything like a capacitor to help them start faster?
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
Not safely. It is a bad design using marginal parts. Apparently some of the part tolerances are going outside the design limits.
Even if I had a detailed schematic, I would not touch them.
 

mirawho

Senior Member
Location
Sun Valley, CA
A lot of major brand CFL's are just the same. It's kind of luck of the draw with them. I turn on the office lights at home and then go do something for about 5 minutes and come back when they are at full. Gotta love instant on LED's for power savings.
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
I got some made in China CFL fixtures and bulbs from an online source and some of them take nearly 30 seconds to come on. I don't mean a low glow then warm up to full brightness I mean not even a flicker for 30 seconds. The fixtures only have a small transformer and the bulbs are single tube bi-pin, 13 watt. Can I add anything like a capacitor to help them start faster?

"made in China CFL fixtures and bulbs from an online source...."

i think you've got it....
 

Sahib

Senior Member
Location
India
I got some made in China CFL fixtures and bulbs from an online source and some of them take nearly 30 seconds to come on. I don't mean a low glow then warm up to full brightness I mean not even a flicker for 30 seconds. The fixtures only have a small transformer and the bulbs are single tube bi-pin, 13 watt.
Perhaps the CFLs are first generation technology bulbs.
 
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