I hate CFL's. I had one that was only about a year old, when one day it started flickering---that's when I discovered that the base was brown and starting to melt. Then there's the warm-up time.....they don't reach full brightness for like a minute after power is applied. I then started buying LED's, and they've been awesome.
Great video on CFL! Olympia Beer sign. Nice!! "It's the water" was their slogan. Tumwater WA. the brewery building still exists, but is idle at the moment.
Its amazing how many of these things leave the factory not working, and it is a simple fix, like on this one. I have seen a few. Not that they are worth fixing, but I was curious as to why they didn't work, and now they do.
how much tube will it take??? to "light up" after you fixed it.....what is the equation to determine the length of tube to energize? Or do you lose lumens when the "glass tube" is longer? At what point is it terminal for light up? In a nutshell I want to know what the actual voltage output on the inert gas in the tube..."in a store bought flourescent"....i would also like to know what noble gas is used? Thank you......
Hi, you're an excellent teacher and experimenter, thanks! I still don't get clear what the use of the oscilloscope while testing the 2nd cfl. In other words, what part of the ballast did you test for failure and what voltage did you expected?
If the ballast had been working, I would have seen a couple hundred volts across the output. But what happened on this unit is one of the oscillator capacitors dried out, causing the ballast to run away and over power the lamp. Eventually the electrodes got so hot that they melted the glass, and the vacuum was lost on the burner, and once that happened, the inverter, now in a run away state shorted the output transistors and melted the fusible resistor that all CFL and LED lamps have as a fail safe so they won't start a fire if they fail catastrophically as this one did.
12voltvids very interesting, but in the affirmative case, a DC multimeter would be good too, right? Anyway, in most of the cases examined by me, the cause of failing is just the detachment of one or both the end wires. The side one has proved very difficult if not impossible to resolder. Any suggestion?
rotanal These inverters typically operate in the 60-70KHz frequency range, and a multi meter won't measure high frequency AC signal. Even in AC mode. A scope is the only way to see if the inverter is working.
lead free solder uh? a classic, i've repaired my laptop's PSU like 4 to 5 times for components gotten loose, also some solderings with little solder on em can cause this about light tubes test "equipment", a small tesla coil will light up anything, also you can trim the intensity by just getting the tube nearer, of course if like the neon sign is defective you can't test it properly but it's a rare case (i think)
Yes, at 2:36 you can see it not soldered down correctly, connection broken. That bulb by the way is still functional and is in the garage door opener in the shop here. It came in a 6 pack of lights and was DOA. Now that LED bulbs are dropping in price the CFLs days are numbered, but LED bulbs still use inverters in them, so they will be dealing with inverter issues.
I just purchased a GE 60W (uses only 13W) CFL bulb and it was completely dead on arrival. I still had the receipt though, so I was able to return it. It sounds like it happens with all brands.
I have had CFL and LED failures. Usually I just take them back, but this one was in a multi pack, and I had it for perhaps a year before installing this specific bulb, and had no receipt to return it. Easy fix, and I have made enough from this video to buy a bunch of LED bulbs. This bulb is still in use in my garage door opener, working perfectly.
Mine was in a two-pack. One worked, one didn't. Exchanged it for the last pack left. Come home...one worked, one the glass was cracked and didn't work. Went back to the store again, so they took the good one from the previous package returned and took out the cracked one from the newer pack. I'm technologically deficient, wish I had your skills. I don't even know if we have a soldering iron in the house. That's awesome you got some returns for the video.
2 things happen at the electrode. Evaporation of the tungsten filament for the hot cathode and phosphor burn from the heat at the hit cathode electrode.
@@Dannydumal it should not dim at end of life unless the power inverter has failing. That's usually what goes bad on compact fluorescence is the inverter board starts to fail just do the capacitors being overheated from the heat of the lamp. CFL bulbs if they're in recessed fixtures tend to fail prematurely if they're open they last for years I have several that are well over 20 years old and they still work
I would not every use even if free from Sylvania. I work with lighting company, we took all lamps out and replaced with Phillips. In 60 floor office building in Vancouver. Thousands of lamps + time for 14 workers.
I have Philips LEDs here that have failed. One over my head now that is flickering like crazy. They are no better than anyone elses lamps. Gone are the days when you put in a T12 lamp and it was good fo 10 years. Now with the low mercury, and electronic ballasts they just do not last like they used. to.
A little mercury never hurt anyone. They used to put it in our teeth as a filling. This bulb is still in service. It is in the light bar over top of my work bench. Speaking of mercury, I remember in science class in high school, we used to play with that stuff. Drop it on the desk, roll it around. Stick wires in it to watch it conduct. Nobody got sick. None of our kids came out with missing or extra parts. Hazards are mostly over blown, you will get more mercury in your system from eating a can of tuna, and you can thank all the coal burning electric generation plants for that. Burn the coal, release mercury into the air. It falls as rain, goes into the ocean, the fish eat it, and we eat the fish. That is where the problem lies, not a tiny speck of mercury amalgam which is a solid, and that is what is in these lights.
Mohamed Yazid Chala I already showed the connection that was broken, I was wiggling the cap again so I could see it once I had the iron in my hand. Look at 2:35 and you will see the problem clear as day.
Yup, and the LEDs they are being replaced with are NO more reliable. Just had another expensive vintage looking filament LED that was 17.00 go pop after 6 weeks of use. Another 5.00 of gas burned to take it back to the store for replacement. So much for saving me money.
The filament LEDs are crap because they hold the LEDs in mid air and as such there is NO heat sinking for the chips. The dollar store (Dollar General here) and Sylvania 8.5watt LED A-line style bulbs are quite reliable in my experience. Those filament LEDs are a gimmick and are total crap.
Also, one of my tricks for prolonging the life of LEDs is that when i buy bulbs I get a black sharpie with the fattest tip possible and sit and paint the base of the bulb black, the base on these things is supposed to be a heatsink and black is supposed to be the color that radiates heat away the best. I haven't lost one yet that I have done this to. Why the bulb bases are always the chalky white I don't know. Seems like a rough surface in a dark color would be best. a rough or detailed surface would have a lot more surface area to act as a heatsink than a smooth one, shiny surfaces are supposed to be the worst for expelling heat.
I have a dollar store 6 watt bulb under test here now, and it has gone out twice, but tightening it in the socket fixed it. I have 4 philips GU10 bulbs and 1 is dead, and 2 of the others is flickering, and these ones had big metal heat sinks and they still failed..
John The led filament bulb that failed on me wasn't the filament that failed rather the power supply. It still light up just very dim. When power turned off it would fade out slowly as the filter cap drained. My guess is the current limiter ic popped but will never find out as I returned it for a new one. I have had many conventional led lights fail and I have about 50 in my house 9 of which are filament type. So far only 1 died. So I don't believe it is a heat problem. The bulbs are filled with carbon monoxide which is very thermal conductive.
+DrCruel No that one was made in China. I do have an old American made, by union labour no doubt as it is a GE bulb that is over 30 years old and still works. It weighs about a pound, and has a big magnetic ballast, blinks a few times when turned on, but it works like it did the day it was installed.
I hate CFL's. I had one that was only about a year old, when one day it started flickering---that's when I discovered that the base was brown and starting to melt. Then there's the warm-up time.....they don't reach full brightness for like a minute after power is applied. I then started buying LED's, and they've been awesome.
Love the 80's retro intro music. I actually hate most of the music of that era but it works as a nod to the past.
Great video on CFL! Olympia Beer sign. Nice!! "It's the water" was their slogan. Tumwater WA. the brewery building still exists, but is idle at the moment.
Its amazing how many of these things leave the factory not working, and it is a simple fix, like on this one. I have seen a few. Not that they are worth fixing, but I was curious as to why they didn't work, and now they do.
Nice! One thing though, the 'l' in solder is silent! Teehee!
Only for Americans. In the rest of the English speaking world the "L" is pronounced.
how much tube will it take??? to "light up" after you fixed it.....what is the equation to determine the length of tube to energize? Or do you lose lumens when the "glass tube" is longer? At what point is it terminal for light up? In a nutshell I want to know what the actual voltage output on the inert gas in the tube..."in a store bought flourescent"....i would also like to know what noble gas is used? Thank you......
What was your scope settings? I am retired and learning electronics. And interested in why these fail and how to repair them. Love all you vid's.
Where we buy the new CFL bulbs for the old fused CFL bulb. Please let me know.
Hi, you're an excellent teacher and experimenter, thanks! I still don't get clear what the use of the oscilloscope while testing the 2nd cfl. In other words, what part of the ballast did you test for failure and what voltage did you expected?
If the ballast had been working, I would have seen a couple hundred volts across the output. But what happened on this unit is one of the oscillator capacitors dried out, causing the ballast to run away and over power the lamp. Eventually the electrodes got so hot that they melted the glass, and the vacuum was lost on the burner, and once that happened, the inverter, now in a run away state shorted the output transistors and melted the fusible resistor that all CFL and LED lamps have as a fail safe so they won't start a fire if they fail catastrophically as this one did.
12voltvids very interesting, but in the affirmative case, a DC multimeter would be good too, right? Anyway, in most of the cases examined by me, the cause of failing is just the detachment of one or both the end wires. The side one has proved very difficult if not impossible to resolder. Any suggestion?
rotanal
These inverters typically operate in the 60-70KHz frequency range, and a multi meter won't measure high frequency AC signal. Even in AC mode. A scope is the only way to see if the inverter is working.
12voltvids now it's all clear to me. It's HF AC, not DC :-)
. Thanks so much!
rotanal
Exactly
Can you please explain how to chk the circuit ( voltages etc. at different points ) which is needed when any visible defect can't be found ?
lead free solder uh? a classic, i've repaired my laptop's PSU like 4 to 5 times for components gotten loose, also some solderings with little solder on em can cause this
about light tubes test "equipment", a small tesla coil will light up anything, also you can trim the intensity by just getting the tube nearer, of course if like the neon sign is defective you can't test it properly but it's a rare case (i think)
You connected 1 end of the diode/resistor - and 1 end into the bottom of the light???
my CFL flickered and died while watching this. I think it's a Chinese conspiracy.
AM I CORRECT THAT THE PROBLEM OF THE BULB IS A LOOSE SOLDER CONNECTION?PLS.ADVISE.TNX.
Yes, at 2:36 you can see it not soldered down correctly, connection broken. That bulb by the way is still functional and is in the garage door opener in the shop here. It came in a 6 pack of lights and was DOA. Now that LED bulbs are dropping in price the CFLs days are numbered, but LED bulbs still use inverters in them, so they will be dealing with inverter issues.
K.TNX.
I just purchased a GE 60W (uses only 13W) CFL bulb and it was completely dead on arrival. I still had the receipt though, so I was able to return it. It sounds like it happens with all brands.
I have had CFL and LED failures. Usually I just take them back, but this one was in a multi pack, and I had it for perhaps a year before installing this specific bulb, and had no receipt to return it. Easy fix, and I have made enough from this video to buy a bunch of LED bulbs. This bulb is still in use in my garage door opener, working perfectly.
Mine was in a two-pack. One worked, one didn't. Exchanged it for the last pack left. Come home...one worked, one the glass was cracked and didn't work. Went back to the store again, so they took the good one from the previous package returned and took out the cracked one from the newer pack. I'm technologically deficient, wish I had your skills. I don't even know if we have a soldering iron in the house. That's awesome you got some returns for the video.
About a buck a month I would estimate.
why do blown cfl bulbs have black ends like one bigger than the other
2 things happen at the electrode. Evaporation of the tungsten filament for the hot cathode and phosphor burn from the heat at the hit cathode electrode.
@@12voltvids how come the bulb dims at eol
@@Dannydumal it should not dim at end of life unless the power inverter has failing. That's usually what goes bad on compact fluorescence is the inverter board starts to fail just do the capacitors being overheated from the heat of the lamp. CFL bulbs if they're in recessed fixtures tend to fail prematurely if they're open they last for years I have several that are well over 20 years old and they still work
I would not every use even if free from Sylvania. I work with lighting company, we took all lamps out and replaced with Phillips. In 60 floor office building in Vancouver. Thousands of lamps + time for 14 workers.
I have Philips LEDs here that have failed. One over my head now that is flickering like crazy. They are no better than anyone elses lamps. Gone are the days when you put in a T12 lamp and it was good fo 10 years. Now with the low mercury, and electronic ballasts they just do not last like they used. to.
Yep! a older incandescent wouldn't do that! but at least its been repaired!
This is why the output of a neon sign transformer is rated in killer volts.
Yes very high voltage. This one only 3kv. I have one that is 7.5kv.
You can dispose of compact florescent bulbs or indeed any bulbs at London Drugs.
jolly nice sharing.......thanks
for once I tried to take a DOA cfl lamp back. as I walked into the store the thing jumped out of my hand and smashed on the floor :(
Neon lights actually have heater cathodes!
good info, thanks...
its very use ful
Can you do me a video of cfl
very nice
Funny how you said "It don't work!
You should've ♻️recycled♻️ the lamp that had a hole in it. Next time ♻️recycle♻️ broken bulbs.
Had no ideal a light bulb had all that inside it.
The right way is to throw it in the recycling bin as the tube contains mercury.
A little mercury never hurt anyone. They used to put it in our teeth as a filling.
This bulb is still in service. It is in the light bar over top of my work bench.
Speaking of mercury, I remember in science class in high school, we used to play with that stuff. Drop it on the desk, roll it around. Stick wires in it to watch it conduct. Nobody got sick. None of our kids came out with missing or extra parts. Hazards are mostly over blown, you will get more mercury in your system from eating a can of tuna, and you can thank all the coal burning electric generation plants for that. Burn the coal, release mercury into the air. It falls as rain, goes into the ocean, the fish eat it, and we eat the fish.
That is where the problem lies, not a tiny speck of mercury amalgam which is a solid, and that is what is in these lights.
I’m the 100th comment :D
So simple - not that hard to take apart !!!
In 2015 August 28
Move your hand away from the camera view !
I pointed out the fault, and my hand was not in the shot.
12voltvids i was talking about 3:51
Mohamed Yazid Chala
I already showed the connection that was broken, I was wiggling the cap again so I could see it once I had the iron in my hand. Look at 2:35 and you will see the problem clear as day.
So glad these worthless dogshit things are being replaced en masse by LEDs. Even when they do work the light output is goddamned nasty!
Yup, and the LEDs they are being replaced with are NO more reliable. Just had another expensive vintage looking filament LED that was 17.00 go pop after 6 weeks of use. Another 5.00 of gas burned to take it back to the store for replacement. So much for saving me money.
The filament LEDs are crap because they hold the LEDs in mid air and as such there is NO heat sinking for the chips.
The dollar store (Dollar General here) and Sylvania 8.5watt LED A-line style bulbs are quite reliable in my experience. Those filament LEDs are a gimmick and are total crap.
Also, one of my tricks for prolonging the life of LEDs is that when i buy bulbs I get a black sharpie with the fattest tip possible and sit and paint the base of the bulb black, the base on these things is supposed to be a heatsink and black is supposed to be the color that radiates heat away the best. I haven't lost one yet that I have done this to. Why the bulb bases are always the chalky white I don't know. Seems like a rough surface in a dark color would be best. a rough or detailed surface would have a lot more surface area to act as a heatsink than a smooth one, shiny surfaces are supposed to be the worst for expelling heat.
I have a dollar store 6 watt bulb under test here now, and it has gone out twice, but tightening it in the socket fixed it. I have 4 philips GU10 bulbs and 1 is dead, and 2 of the others is flickering, and these ones had big metal heat sinks and they still failed..
John
The led filament bulb that failed on me wasn't the filament that failed rather the power supply. It still light up just very dim. When power turned off it would fade out slowly as the filter cap drained. My guess is the current limiter ic popped but will never find out as I returned it for a new one. I have had many conventional led lights fail and I have about 50 in my house 9 of which are filament type. So far only 1 died. So I don't believe it is a heat problem. The bulbs are filled with carbon monoxide which is very thermal conductive.
😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
Philips made in China to.
Yup
your video not clear see
Use for parts or throw it away, as much time you spent on it tells me you are bored maybe.
Must have been made in the USA by union labor.
+DrCruel No that one was made in China. I do have an old American made, by union labour no doubt as it is a GE bulb that is over 30 years old and still works. It weighs about a pound, and has a big magnetic ballast, blinks a few times when turned on, but it works like it did the day it was installed.
Can you please explain how to chk the circuit ( voltages etc. at different points ) which is needed when any visible defect can't be found ?