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CF Bulbs

A

Anthony Guzzi

Jan 1, 1970
0
I rent a room in a house, and this room has a ceiling fan, and this fan
has 2 light sockets.

There were 2 incandescent bulbs in there. I have just replaced them
with CF bulbs, which died a short time later. The first set of bulbs
flickered, got hot, and buzzed, smelled, and then just stopped working.
I bought another set of replacement bulbs, and when I first put them
in, they buzzed, but have stopped buzzing. Now the ballast portion gets
hot and the bulb is flickering very intermittently.

Is it normal that the ballast portion get hot?

Could there be something wrong with the fixture?

thanks
 
T

Tom Biasi

Jan 1, 1970
0
"Anthony Guzzi" wrote in message

I rent a room in a house, and this room has a ceiling fan, and this fan
has 2 light sockets.

There were 2 incandescent bulbs in there. I have just replaced them
with CF bulbs, which died a short time later. The first set of bulbs
flickered, got hot, and buzzed, smelled, and then just stopped working.
I bought another set of replacement bulbs, and when I first put them
in, they buzzed, but have stopped buzzing. Now the ballast portion gets
hot and the bulb is flickering very intermittently.

Is it normal that the ballast portion get hot?

Could there be something wrong with the fixture?

thanks

Are the bulbs on a dimmer control?

Tom
 
A

Anthony Guzzi

Jan 1, 1970
0
There is a remote possibility that the lamps are used for more than
providing light. It is possible that they are somehow used to help or
start the fan motor. Does the fan work if the lamps are removed?

If you have the original lamps, read the lamp description on voltage and
power. That might give a clue. Even better would be instructions for
running the fan.

Another thing may be to test your CFLs in another socket as well as the
original lamps.

Bill


As far as I know, they do not help start the fan motor. The Fan works
perfectly if the bulbs are removed.

I do not have the original bulbs that came with the unit, they are long
gone. The bulbs that I removed are replacements too. My roomate bought
the fan years ago, and it's just an ordinary fan from The Home Depot.

It does have a remote control. It turns the fan on 1 of 3 levels, and 1
setting for the light. On or Off.
 
T

Tom Biasi

Jan 1, 1970
0
"Anthony Guzzi" wrote in message

Are the bulbs on a dimmer control?


No, they aren't.

In all cases that I have encountered like yours the lamps are just lamps.
They are powered by line current, switched at the fan sometimes, or powered
by a dimmer circuit.
If there is no dimmer then the CF lamps should work as any lamp.
I can't answer your scenario.
I would need more info.

Tom
 
S

Stephen B.

Jan 1, 1970
0
"Anthony Guzzi" wrote
As far as I know, they do not help start the fan motor. The Fan
works perfectly if the bulbs are removed.

I do not have the original bulbs that came with the unit, they are
long gone. The bulbs that I removed are replacements too. My
roomate bought the fan years ago, and it's just an ordinary fan from
The Home Depot.

It does have a remote control. It turns the fan on 1 of 3 levels,
and 1 setting for the light. On or Off.

What orientation are the bulbs? I think I remember that some bulbs do
not like being sideways or upside down.

Is the fan well balanced?
 
A

Anthony Guzzi

Jan 1, 1970
0
What orientation are the bulbs? I think I remember that some bulbs do
not like being sideways or upside down.


The bulbs are sideways.

Is the fan well balanced?

Yes, like me, the fan is well balanced. :)
 
A

Anthony Guzzi

Jan 1, 1970
0
THATS IT, THE RC CIRCUIT FROM THE FAN CONFLICTS WITH THE ELECTRONIC
CIRCUIT OF THE CFLS.
YOU CANNOT USE THEM WITH ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED SWITCH OR DIMMER,
THEY FLICKER..TO STOP THE CRACKLING SOUND, GRAB THE BULB WHEN ITS LIT
AT TIGHTEN IT, AND MAKE SURE YOU SEAT IT WELL IN THE SOCKET....OR JUST
REMOVE THE CFs& REPLACE THEM WITH REGULAR INCANDESCENT BULBS........


Ok, in what way does it interfere? I'm looking for technical details.

There is NO dimmer.

The bulbs always have been and are always as tight as they will go.
It would be idiotic of me to do otherwise.



Update: One of the bulbs has failed.
 
R

Rich.

Jan 1, 1970
0
Anthony Guzzi said:
I rent a room in a house, and this room has a ceiling fan, and this fan has
2 light sockets.

There were 2 incandescent bulbs in there. I have just replaced them with
CF bulbs, which died a short time later. The first set of bulbs
flickered, got hot, and buzzed, smelled, and then just stopped working. I
bought another set of replacement bulbs, and when I first put them in,
they buzzed, but have stopped buzzing. Now the ballast portion gets hot
and the bulb is flickering very intermittently.

Is it normal that the ballast portion get hot?

Could there be something wrong with the fixture?

thanks

You didn't mention the wattage of the CFLs you're using, but you could try
lower wattage ones which will produce less heat.

1. Low budget CFL bulbs cannot take the vibration from a paddle fan.
2. I suspect heat is a major contributing factor.
 
A

Anthony Guzzi

Jan 1, 1970
0
I AM NOT JUDGEING YOU AND NO ONE SAID YOU ARE AN IDIOT.
BUT THE CRACKLING IS DUE TO A POOR CONNECTION BTWN BASE& SOCKET.
JUST WAIT, YOU HAVENT HAD A BAD CFL EXPERIENCE UNTIL ONE BLOWS UP AND
IS LEFT DANGLING OFF THE PC BOARD BY TWO WIRES.

THERE IS AN OLD ENGRISH PROVERB "NEVER BUY FOREIGN PRODUCTS WHEN YOU
AT HOME"



The bulbs are GE Reveal Bulbs. Last time I checked, GE is not foreign.
 
A

Anthony Guzzi

Jan 1, 1970
0
You didn't mention the wattage of the CFLs you're using, but you could
try lower wattage ones which will produce less heat.

1. Low budget CFL bulbs cannot take the vibration from a paddle fan.
2. I suspect heat is a major contributing factor.


Unfortunatly, they are not low budget bulbs, but real GE bulbs of
strange color spectrum, kinda expensive.

Yes, that thought had occurred to me also. They are 26W CF Bulbs.
(Equivalent to 100 W incandescent bulbs)

But if I put in 60 W equivilant bulbs in, yes, it will be less bright,
but then only using whatever low amount 16 W, so how can they be less
hot than a real incandescent 60 W bulb.
 
A

Anthony Guzzi

Jan 1, 1970
0
You sure have provided us with an interesting paradox. If it were not
for my curiosity, I would throw up my hands. It is not MY problem. How
much effort are you willing to invest?

If you can, get an adapter from a screw base to a regular socket. Run an
extension cord from the socket to a table lamp or something like that,
Of course, make sure that the fan will not hit the cord. Try
incandescent lamps, one at the fan and one at the remote lamp. I would
expect that to work. Then replace the remote lamp with a CFL. See if
that works. At this point we have to figure out what to do next
depending upon what happens. Somewhere along the line you will have one
CFL at the fan and another remotely. That should tell you if it is the
fan environment that is the problem or if the problem is electrical.

Bill


I don't know how far I'm willing to go yet. Personally, I'm happy with
incandescent bulbs, but my roommate who is an energy saving freak, wants
me to use the CF bulbs.

I'm interested in the paradox though, I'm having a little trouble seeing
how it is a paradox.
 
R

Rich.

Jan 1, 1970
0
Anthony Guzzi said:
Unfortunatly, they are not low budget bulbs, but real GE bulbs of strange
color spectrum, kinda expensive.

Yes, that thought had occurred to me also. They are 26W CF Bulbs.
(Equivalent to 100 W incandescent bulbs)

But if I put in 60 W equivilant bulbs in, yes, it will be less bright, but
then only using whatever low amount 16 W, so how can they be less hot than
a real incandescent 60 W bulb.

The 16W CFL lamps will create less heat than the 26W ones. The incandescent
bulbs are irrelevant because they're not the ones burning out.
 
R

Rich.

Jan 1, 1970
0
Anthony Guzzi said:
On 6/3/2011 2:49 AM, Salmon Egg wrote:

I don't know how far I'm willing to go yet. Personally, I'm happy with
incandescent bulbs, but my roommate who is an energy saving freak, wants
me to use the CF bulbs.

So ask him how must he's saving by replacing these expensive CFLs
constantly. The repeated cost of the CFLs has already surpassed any energy
saving.
 
R

Rich.

Jan 1, 1970
0
Rich. said:
So ask him how must he's saving by replacing these expensive CFLs
constantly. The repeated cost of the CFLs has already surpassed any energy
saving.

Err. how MUCH he's saving...
 
A

Anthony Guzzi

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thank you both for hijacking my thread for your petty arguments.



Arguing on the internet is like winning the Special Olympics. Even if
you win, you're still retarded.
 
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