CFL fire hazard!

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hockeyoligist2

hockeyoligist2

Senior Member
Location
close to greenville sc
Caution!!! CFL's (compact florescent lights) can be a fire hazard!

Last night my Mom called and said "please come quick a light is on fire!" I rushed to their house and the ballast in the CFL had caught fire, the whole house smelled like a burned ballast. It was lucky they were awake when this happened, she may not have got it turned off in time. The ceiling tiles around the light were scorched.

If it had been a plain old incandescent bulb it would have just stopped working!
 
hockeyoligist2

hockeyoligist2

Senior Member
Location
close to greenville sc
Not sure, burned too bad, I couldn't read anything on it. I am sure it was one of the better ones because Mom said it was a gift from the POCO. I put it in a box and took it to my "light guy" since he is always pushing them.
 
E

Electrobe

Member
A simular thing happened to me......

I had a lamp connected to a wall switch which had a CFL in it. One day when I came home and turned the light on, the CFL began to smoke badly. Luckily I was able to turn the light off quickly.

Since then I do not trust these lights and will never put them on a auto timer.
 
76nemo

76nemo

Senior Member
Location
Ogdensburg, NY
hockeyoligist2 said:
Caution!!! CFL's (compact florescent lights) can be a fire hazard!

Last night my Mom called and said "please come quick a light is on fire!" I rushed to their house and the ballast in the CFL had caught fire, the whole house smelled like a burned ballast. It was lucky they were awake when this happened, she may not have got it turned off in time. The ceiling tiles around the light were scorched.

If it had been a plain old incandescent bulb it would have just stopped working!
Click to expand...

You had to of have had the jitters after that one. I am glad to hear all is fine now. Imagine if they were sleeping!!!!!! *************** Thanks for the heads up, and the okay outcome!
 
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hockeyoligist2

hockeyoligist2

Senior Member
Location
close to greenville sc
76nemo said:
You had to of have had the jitters after that one. I am glad to hear all is fine now. Imagine if they were sleeping!!!!!! *************** Thanks for the heads up, and the okay outcome!
Click to expand...

Thank You 76nemo, I got a good scare from it. I replaced it with a 40 watt incandescent, I don't like the CFL's...... now I have another reason not to like them. I will stock up before they are outlawed.
 
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brantmacga

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
hockeyoligist2 said:
I put it in a box and took it to my "light guy" since he is always pushing them.
Click to expand...

you have one of those too?

i had one.

i brought him in on a project to outfit a new house with CFL's. this customer of mine happened to own a large office/warehouse. The "light guy" talked the customer into letting him install his brand of fluorescent T8's in the office, and told him it would cut the energy bill in half; that's a word-for-word quote from the customer. I didn't know about any of this until after the fact. Next thing I know, the customer is extremely angry because their power bill was $10 less for the next month after installing the bulbs. the light guy told them to "give the bulbs a chance to break in." the worst part is, he honestly believed replacing the T8's with a watt-for-watt replacement TCP bulb would cut the energy cost in half. At least that's what the TCP rep has been telling him. The guy sold copy machines for 35 years, retired, and opening a CFL business. I used him because he had an excellent assortment of CFL bulbs that I couldn't find anywhere else. Anyhow, we no longer work together.
 
P

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
I had a Sylvania bulb do that to me. Melted a hole right through it. UL listed, made somewhere in eastern Europe IIRC.

I am really unimpressed with CFL performance. I have tried every brand I see in stores. none produce anywhere near the usable light they claim, and none have lasted anywhere near as long as they claim. In fact, I have had several DOAs.

The spots are particularly bad.
 
cadpoint

cadpoint

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
To the OP, did you inspect the receiving socket of the lamp ?
Did you change is out to an old style ceramic socket, or even replace
the socket itself ?

I feel that the plastic sockets are not suited for CFL's, and ceramic chasse can take about three times the heat (best guess)

I am really unimpressed with CFL performance. I have tried every brand I see in stores. none produce anywhere near the usable light they claim, and none have lasted anywhere near as long as they claim. In fact, I have had several DOAs.
Click to expand...

Are you measuring the light with a light meter ? How do you qualify this statement over-all?

First the wattage used is 1/2 to 1/3 lower than a standard lamp, but the luminary output is around the same as a standard lamp that it is replacing, this is all over the internet, although heat that is generated can dissipate the output of the lamp.

I'm using them through out my house, and haven't had any problems, I average 3-5 years but that also depends on usage.

I also want to qualify my statement in that all my lamps are working on new circuits of less than 8-11 years of age.

I will also state that I try to spin them in by the base and never twist the glass of at all possible.
Granted I don't have CFL in a downlight situation either.
 
mxslick

mxslick

Senior Member
Location
SE Idaho
petersonra said:
I had a Sylvania bulb do that to me. Melted a hole right through it. UL listed, made somewhere in eastern Europe IIRC.

I am really unimpressed with CFL performance. I have tried every brand I see in stores. none produce anywhere near the usable light they claim, and none have lasted anywhere near as long as they claim. In fact, I have had several DOAs.

The spots are particularly bad.
Click to expand...

I had some of the PAR30's in my kitchen, they lasted less than six months.They didn't flame out or smoke, just quit working.

A lot of thre CFL's out there are junk though. I have had good luck, so far, with the Sylvanias. They are in my bathroom and one bedroom.
 
tonyou812

tonyou812

Senior Member
Location
North New Jersey
Electrobe said:
A simular thing happened to me......

I had a lamp connected to a wall switch which had a CFL in it. One day when I came home and turned the light on, the CFL began to smoke badly. Luckily I was able to turn the light off quickly.

Since then I do not trust these lights and will never put them on a auto timer.
Click to expand...

same thing happened to me in my basement pull chain. I turned it on one day and it started smoking. Too bad though I have them alomst everywhere in my house. I find it somewhat amusing how much people hate these. The first comment is "they arent as bright as regular bulbs" and I tell them you just have to wait a minute or two. But in this instant gratification society that we live in even that is too long for most people. The other comments are "I dont like the light they make" And my reply is you have to get the cool white ones or a colot that is more appeling to you eye. Home Depot acually has a cool display of four different Cfl and they show you the range of the different colors. Pretty cool. I personally dont mind them at all. But what do I know, Ive been labled tree hugger by most people so...
 
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P

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
cadpoint said:
To the OP, did you inspect the receiving socket of the lamp ?
Did you change is out to an old style ceramic socket, or even replace
the socket itself ?

I feel that the plastic sockets are not suited for CFL's, and ceramic chasse can take about three times the heat (best guess)



Are you measuring the light with a light meter ? How do you qualify this statement over-all?

First the wattage used is 1/2 to 1/3 lower than a standard lamp, but the luminary output is around the same as a standard lamp that it is replacing, this is all over the internet, although heat that is generated can dissipate the output of the lamp.

I'm using them through out my house, and haven't had any problems, I average 3-5 years but that also depends on usage.

I also want to qualify my statement in that all my lamps are working on new circuits of less than 8-11 years of age.

I will also state that I try to spin them in by the base and never twist the glass of at all possible.
Granted I don't have CFL in a downlight situation either.
Click to expand...
I don't care what the light meter says. Note the use of the phrase "usable light". Put an incandescent bulb next to a CFL that purports to produce the same amount of light. The light meter may well say the amount of light is the same, but the CFL bulb produces light of a different spectrum that is not quite as useful to human eyesight.

I don't think the age of the circuit is a factor at all. BTW, I have some CFL bulbs that have been going for close to ten years now. They are all in track light fixtures. The spots I put in cans and the CFL bulbs in the light fixture on the ceiling fan just don't last. And that is with the ceiling fan rarely if ever being used.

I do have a couple yellow CFL bulbs outside as porch lights that have lasted quite awhile, but they are oriented with the base down.

I suspect the real problem is heat that cannot be dissipated properly with the base up, although why the ones in the track lighting fixtures have lasted as long as they have is a mystery to me (they are all base up).
 
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