Energy saving lightbulbs

[stojke]

Hello Electro tech, i have a few questions.
Lately i boughed an neon light desk lamp, but its "circuitry" was broken, one capacitor blew, so i replaced it and the light works fine now.

My question is, what is that circuitry? I know ive seen the same type inside energy saving light bulbs, on what voltage/amperage do those light bulbs actually work, and how can i make a custom circuitry set? That is, what parts are needed, and does some one have a schematics?

**broken link removed**

Thanks, i hope you reply.

 

[Reloadron]

The pictured bulb ios not a neon lamp but a CFL (Compact Flourescent Lamp). In the base of the fixture is the electronic ballast. That drives the lamp. Take a look here for information about the ballast used to drive these lamps. That should get you started. Then a Google of CFL ballast should yield more results.

Ron

 

[Ratchit]

Not to change the subject, but I am disappointed in CFLs. They tout long lifetimes, which the bulbs probably have. But the electronics which drive the bulbs usually crap out in a comparitively short time after any warrantee expires, leaving you with a more expensive bulb that does not work anymore. Maybe the newer LED bulbs are better, but I have stopped buying CFLs.

Ratch

 

[stojke]

Ohh i get what it is now! Thanks a lot Ron, it really helps. I thought CFL's work on low voltage, but i was wrong.

[EDIT] - Thanks for the info Ratch!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Not to change the subject, but I am disappointed in CFLs. They tout long lifetimes, which the bulbs probably have. But the electronics which drive the bulbs usually crap out in a comparitively short time after any warrantee expires, leaving you with a more expensive bulb that does not work anymore. Maybe the newer LED bulbs are better, but I have stopped buying CFLs.

As you don't have your location filled in we've no idea where you might be, but certainly in my experience they are generally VERY long lasting and reliable.

 

[crutschow]

The one thing that can kill them is being in a recessed ceiling fixture with poor ventilation. I've had several fail that way because of excess heat build-up. They got so warm that the plastic housing for the electronics was noticeably discolored brown.

 

[ericgibbs]

The higher wattage CFL seem to last a long time, the low CFL fail within 12 months.

 

[Reloadron]

We have a few lamps in the house that run 24/7 so I tried CFL types as much as I personally dislike them. My experiebnce runs with what Eric posted with an exception. If any given CFL is going to fail early it dies within several days. If they surpass a week then they generally last a year of 24/7 with the low power ones failing first.

Ron

 

[JimB]

I have a CFL in my desk light, it has been there since December 2007 (I wrote the date on it, am I a fuss-pot or what?)
So far it is working fine, during the winter it is on most of the day, so it has had plenty of use.
I thought that it was expensive at the time (about £5 from memory).

JimB

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

They seem to be mechanically fragile. I like the 3-way CFL's.

Some (one in the shape of a flood) have turn-on times on the order of 5 minutes) You basically have to turn on the light 10 minutes before your going to clean the bathroom. There is a LED nightlight in there and a decorative globe-type (1,2 or 3 bulb) above the sink light which is incadescent.

Some have a noticable turn-on time on the order of seconds.

They don't like the cold weather (attic) where the bulbs never get a chance to stay on long-enough to be useful. They are always too dim. The pantry, attic and closets just don;t seem to be right for the bulbs. We have one in a stairway and it turns on a few seconds after the other one does. I don't think I'd like two CFL's for the stairway.

The outdoor post lamp went CFL, but it's rarely used.

Probably, technicly against code, I'm using a Quartz halogen outdoor fixture in the attic. It does say outdoor use only. I wish I had two such fixtures up there. It's really difficult to accidently leave it on because the light switch that controls it has a pilot lamp.

The lamps are ugly in chandeliers and hurricaine lamps although we put two with a miniature base in a hanging lamp (holds 4 bulbs). The hanging lamp over the kitchen table and to adjust the brightness, we unscrew bulbs.

The kitchen has lots of localized lightiing. Florescent under the counter. An incadesent nite light under the counter (on from dark to 11 pm). A ceiling light as part of a fan and a 2 cfl/2 incadesent hanging over the kitchen table. Then there is a light over the sink when doing dishes.

The basement and laundry have been 4' florescent fixtures for a very long time. Lamps generally became decorative over the years and CFL's sometimes spoil that.

My take on lighting.

 

[squishy36]

These things are engineered to fail. By that I mean that the manufacturers have continuously removed cost and materials over the decades and wait until customers scream or sales go down. The technology exists for long life fluorescent bulbs. I have a fluorescent lamp my mother bought for me when I entered high school nearly 50 years ago. That lamp is still working with the two original bulbs it came with.

Of course, if I was a manufacturer of these, my revenue would be in the toilet...

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

Someone mentioned LED bulbs. I have one LED bulb and i really like it. It's not as bright as i would really want though, so it's only good for close up work.
I've also created a few of my own but they are just high power LEDs running on wall warts. Nice white light.

The thing about the LED bulb i really like is it doesnt get hot so i can put it in my cheap desk lamp and it doesnt bother the plastic at all. The little curly bulbs bases get hot so that's something to think about too.

To be honest i wouldnt recommend building a curly bulb as they are pretty cheap these days and building one requires quite a bit of care because it will be working off of the line directly.

 

[stojke]

Hmm, this was very interesting to read, and by now ive learned a lot about CFL lights.

I do have a question, how to CFL's handle bumping while working, and physical shocks? I was thinking of making my own lamp using a 9W pin-base CFL i have.
Well, either that, or modify an existing lamp housing to build in a pertinax-circuit board with LED's. Which would you suggest (i would be moving it a lot, and it might get hit some times too)?

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

For rough treatment i dont think you can beat an LED. I've broken a few of the curly bulbs and after all they are just thin glass so it's not that hard to break one. One broke with a little too much side to side pressure, it snapped near the base. That was a multi straight tube type though not a curly. The glass breaks up into small particles too (shards of glass ha ha).

 

[Ratchit]

Don't forget that those CFLs are supposed to be a waste hazard problem, too. There was a squawk about that in the U.S. Congress when they were debating a law banning the sale of incandescent bulbs. I hope for the LEDs to develop more fully.

Ratch

 

[audioguru]

I bought Osram-Sylvania compact fluorescent light bulbs for nearly every light in my home because I like the pure white colour of 3000k (nobody else made it and now they don't make it anymore). Now they sell Warm White (2700k pink-yellow) or Daylight (4000k blue) ones like everyone else.
They fail after about 2 years so I phone their customer service who mails me a coupon for some free ones.
Year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year, etc. Good service.

 

[KJ6EAD]

The crappy brands of CFLs like Feit Electric and Lights of America were often subsidized through utility company giveaway programs and performed badly. The major brands such as Sylvania and GE don't have much trouble unless you mount them base up in a poorly vented fixture. I always get the daylight white (5000°K+). LEDs are approaching efficacy levels of 200 lumens per Watt which exceeds that of most fluorescents though they're not yet cost competitive.

 

[MrAl]

Hi again,

audioguru and others:
I noticed long time ago that the curly bulbs (and straight multi tubes too) had a rating on the package that noted a very long service life, but when i read it carefully i noticed that they actually dont specify the bulb for 24 hours a day running but rather for 8 hours a day or something like that. So if they say 3 years at 8 hours a day that really boils down to just 1 year at 24 hours a day!
I havent read a package in a long time now though so i dont know if they still rate them like that for a partial day but that was what a read about 2 years ago.

 

[audioguru]

Not many people "burn" lightbulbs continuously. Usually just for a few hours in the evening.