Exploding low energy light bulb

[hifi_dave]

Maybe not exploding but catching fire..:eek:

Came home yesterday afternoon and turned on one of the side lamps and within seconds the low energy light bulb caught fire. A thick cloud of black, acrid smoke and fierce sparks from the base of the bulb. If we hadn't been there and it had turned on via the timer, as usual, we might have come home to a major fire.

It was one of those mini, looped neon type, low energy bulbs from Tesco.

Anyone else experienced similar ?

[struth]

Sue them dave

[Firebottle]

There is usually a fuse or fusible resistor (or one to limit current at least) built in.

I've not heard of one flaming before :eek:

[Arkless Electronics]

The sparks and smoke would likely have ended in seconds and without actual fire...
They have a switch mode PSU inside which is made from the cheapest components available and often this is what fails.

[The Black Adder]

I had one explode on me once, scared me to death.

Bring back the old types sez I... :)

[Arkless Electronics]

The thing that really pisses me off is that when they came in they pretty much halved everyone's use of electricity and hence bills should have halved... but no, the government allowed the energy companies to double the price of electricity to protect their profits!! :steam:

[mik_rik]

It was last week or so when it was leaked that their actual profits were 6 times what they admitted to.Wonder what bills would be if privatisation had not happened:(

[Macca]

Privatising Water and Power was one of the worst things ever. They are robbing us blind and the 'choice' is just a choice of which of the equally crappy call centres you want to deal with.

[Arkless Electronics]

All utilities and infrastructure should be re-nationalised immediately!!

[Macca]

Comrades! To the barricades!

[RichB]

Privatising Water and Power was one of the worst things ever. They are robbing us blind and the 'choice' is just a choice of which of the equally crappy call centres you want to deal with.

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not here Martin?

[Macca]

Totally serious. I'd nationalise the railways too.

[Arkless Electronics]

Comrades! To the barricades!

Indeed. Revolution is the only way forward We'll be needing some old ladies with knitting while I'm at it....:D

[RichB]

Totally serious. I'd nationalise the railways too.

You surprise me Martin. In a good way though.

[Macca]

I always favour the pragmatic solution over the ideological solution.

Not sure how we got onto this from lightbulbs....

[Clifford.T Ward]

The thought occurs......is this a cheap copy that has been passed off as the real thing......the problem sounds rather like the fake phone chargers etc that due to the usw of poor compnents/design can just explode on use?

[Macca]

Not sure they would be worth faking, they are not expensive enough. I had a whole box of them through the post, sent by the power company, totally free of charge. Not even used half of them and that was almost ten years ago. None have failed to date.

[hifi_dave]

The thought occurs......is this a cheap copy that has been passed off as the real thing......the problem sounds rather like the fake phone chargers etc that due to the usw of poor compnents/design can just explode on use?

It was a no-expense-spared Tesco bulb. Not an expensive Philips or anything like that but should be safe coming from a major supermarket, whatever the price.

[Macca]

but should be safe coming from a major supermarket, whatever the price.

There's your problem. Probably contained bits of dead horse. Or was made by horses.

[struth]

I always favour the pragmatic solution over the ideological solution.

Not sure how we got onto this from lightbulbs....

Would never have happened with good old nationalised lekky.. you could trust that stuff! But this new fangled private stuff ;)

[DSJR]

It was a no-expense-spared Tesco bulb. Not an expensive Philips or anything like that but should be safe coming from a major supermarket, whatever the price.


Pauper that I am, I've used these cheaper supermarket low-energy bulbs for some years. 90% of them are fluorescent types, now all golf-ball types as the exposed spiral ones ran hot and didn't last long. Smoke could mean the starting? capacitor inside the base failing? Just lately, I bought some LED mini-golf-ball types from CPC (Pro Electric make I think) at a couple of quid each. Our landing lamp (we use an uplighter for evening permanent illumination) is a 3.5W type and we have three 5W ones in our kitchen in a vintage-style simple plain triple fitting. The 'colour' of the soft-white light has improved a lot, not so 'cold' as earlier ones were, and of course they come on to full brilliance from switch-on, where our older fluorescent types come on much darker and take time to 'warm up.'

[Arkless Electronics]

I once had a go at repairing some of these lamps... the switch mode PSU fails first in about 70% of cases and the heater filaments (2) the rest of the time. It wasn't really possible to take them apart without causing such physical damage to them that the cost of glue etc to reassemble them would be as much as a new bulb!
IMHO, having peeked inside them, it should be possible for ones lasting 10 year or more to be made rather than the two or so they usually last.. all money and marketing etc though of course! I believe I have seen them with "up to 10 years" on the packaging... yeah right...

[Magna Audio]

LED mock filament ones are nice.
Can't comment on longevity as we've been here just under the year.
We have loads of them and down lighters in the ceilings in half the rooms. Not a halogen our fluorescent bulb in the house.

[Ninanina]

I did use the low energy bulbs for years and certainly didn't have any explode :eek:

I've now replaced all mine with some LED jobbies

[Barry]

Those LED jobbies are not without fault either. I have had a couple where the brightness will suddenly drop in level after they have been on for a while.

Probably rouge samples as in general I really do like them, energy efficient, they achieve full brightness instantly, run cold, and look just like the old tungsten filament light bulbs.