Those old Philips SL17 (18?) Plastic globe lamps @ 6:11 seem to last for ever! They have a nice gentle "Program start" sequence that seems to make the cathodes happy, because in Dusk to dawn use, these lamps can last over 10 years in service.
+Valdor Fox You have no idea how old that bulb is! It was taken out of service somewhere between 1995 and 1997, was used sporadically thereafter until about 2002, when it was taken out of service again. So that bulb is (without looking) at least from 1995, making it 21 years old.
They've "declared" LEDs to be even more efficient (despite the poor CRI and flickery light) to be more efficient. People want what's NEW, never realizing that the novelty of a new toy wears off very quickly.
I currently got a Metal Halide 250W High bay fixture. It's really noisy and heavy. Should I replace it with a 85W or 100W Giant CFL and remove the ballast and stuff...?
You really have a lot of light bulbs! I always preferred incandescent over CFL. The light from incandescent bulbs seems better in my opinion. Have you ever had a CFL fail violently?
+Andrew Gallucci YES! One day in the summer outside in the screened room. I have 3 CFL tube-style dollar-store bright white bulbs out there. They were on, and the central A/C took that moment to start. So now there's a voltage sag followed by a surge. There was a resounding pop (about as loud as a firecracker), and the obligatory magic smoke was let out. Autopsy revealed a capacitor exploded.
Andrew Gallucci Yes, and they say that's a "normal" failure. Of course, my old incandescents used to explode and burn the house down when they'd burn out! There's also the mercury scare of the CFLs, where if you break one, mercury will be released and your entire home must be condemned, your first born die instantly, and you become sterile. I was afraid of that too, until I had a pair of standard 4' fluorescents burn out. Stuck them in the garbage can. When the garbage truck came, the guy pulled out one bulb at a time, and threw it into the truck like a javelin. Each bulb shattered into a billion pieces, and essentially "vaporized" into a white cloud. And he's doing well with his nice house and 4 kids. Years ago we'd call this an "old wives' tale", now it spreads like wildfire on all those social media sites. And because you read it on the Internet, it must be true! Seriously, CFLs oftentimes will fail in spectacular ways. The manufacturers claim that this is normal failure. I once did a search on that subject and came up with all sorts of stories and pictures. Of course now you can do a search and get pictures of a guy with his blank stuck in a blender.
jaykay18 I've broken a CFL IN MY HOUSE before! I was afraid of mercury when it happened too. I was just on a site and it said CFL's are environmentally friendly!!! What a joke.
Andrew Gallucci Exactly my point. When an incandescent burns out, it is 100% recyclable, it's simply glass and metal, both of which can be turned into something else!
+Andrew Gallucci Do you really wanna know? OK, the answer is simple. One day I was waiting somewhere and saw an exit sign. I read about them, I saw some vintage ones, I saw some modern ones. I realized that they are all in commercial buildings and not in a private home. So, because I lead my life on a "because I can basis", I found that Home Depot sells them! Of course the ones here didn't sell them. But one day while vacationing in CT, we stopped in there, and there they were, on display and on the shelf. It was only a second later that it was in the wagon. Talking to an ex-co-worker of mine, he told me he is an electrician and we talked about exit signs, so he got me one. Now I had two. I actually liked the one from Home Depot better as it was double sided, the one from the guy was single-sided. So I decided to wire that one up and place it by the bar. That way the drunkards could find their way out? At least that was the idea. Rather, I thought it was cool. So last spring when xjoe81x was over tidying up some wiring in the garage, I decommissioned the old extension cord. This was a hack wiring job by a previous owner, they simply took an old extension cord, cut the plug off, and tied into the light over the garage. Then they ran it out, I surmise for holiday lights. That's what I used it for. But this cord was really frayed, and had tons of electrical tape patches on it. Every year I'd go over every inch and tape it up some more. One day I found a real nice gash in it, and inside I could see the insulation on the wires inside was crumbling as well, so now it was dangerous. So the best solution would be to put an outlet in the garage there, right over the big door, and I'll just buy a regular orange outdoor extension cord, plug it in over the door, run it down the side, and out on the ground. This way I could also unplug it in the spring for further safety; the old cord was live every time the outside lights were on, which was every night. Since it only took a foot of wiring more, I had xjoe81x put the other exit sign there, as a single-sided sign was perfect for that area. See? Simple.
Nope. I guess I used them. I know they were in a 4-pack in the box. They sat untested for years before I ever used them, and 1 out of the 4 was dead out of the box. That left 3. 1 was this one. The other 2 could have gone any number of places.
That maybe may soon become a reality. Not only did I seriously think about it yesterday, I also have this list of "videos to make on a rainy day", and light bulbs was at the top of the list. Still hasn't happened yet, but maybe one day.
I haven't counted how many are in the queue in some time. I'd gather there's enough in there to last me clear through the rest of this year. And the queue is ever-growing, I have 3 videos planned to record today.
Хобби
Those old Philips SL17 (18?) Plastic globe lamps @ 6:11 seem to last for ever! They have a nice gentle "Program start" sequence that seems to make the cathodes happy, because in Dusk to dawn use, these lamps can last over 10 years in service.
+Valdor Fox You have no idea how old that bulb is! It was taken out of service somewhere between 1995 and 1997, was used sporadically thereafter until about 2002, when it was taken out of service again. So that bulb is (without looking) at least from 1995, making it 21 years old.
I still don't understand on why CFLs are getting harder to find. They are STILL energy efficient. If they are not WHY ARE THEY CALLED ENGERY SAVERS!?
They've "declared" LEDs to be even more efficient (despite the poor CRI and flickery light) to be more efficient. People want what's NEW, never realizing that the novelty of a new toy wears off very quickly.
Hey jay! You should do a video on those old CFL bulbs you have in that box there!
I've been toying around with the idea of that for a while now!
I currently got a Metal Halide 250W High bay fixture. It's really noisy and heavy. Should I replace it with a 85W or 100W Giant CFL and remove the ballast and stuff...?
If it were me, I'd leave well enough alone. Metal halide fixtures pretty much don't exist anymore.
I guess you don't have any of those China CRT bulbs like Spats Bear had?
+IAmNotAFunguy No, nothing quite like that!
You really have a lot of light bulbs! I always preferred incandescent over CFL. The light from incandescent bulbs seems better in my opinion. Have you ever had a CFL fail violently?
+Andrew Gallucci YES! One day in the summer outside in the screened room. I have 3 CFL tube-style dollar-store bright white bulbs out there. They were on, and the central A/C took that moment to start. So now there's a voltage sag followed by a surge.
There was a resounding pop (about as loud as a firecracker), and the obligatory magic smoke was let out. Autopsy revealed a capacitor exploded.
jaykay18 Oh wow! I've never seen one fail like that, but I hear that they usually fail with smoke, and an explosion.
Andrew Gallucci Yes, and they say that's a "normal" failure. Of course, my old incandescents used to explode and burn the house down when they'd burn out!
There's also the mercury scare of the CFLs, where if you break one, mercury will be released and your entire home must be condemned, your first born die instantly, and you become sterile.
I was afraid of that too, until I had a pair of standard 4' fluorescents burn out. Stuck them in the garbage can. When the garbage truck came, the guy pulled out one bulb at a time, and threw it into the truck like a javelin. Each bulb shattered into a billion pieces, and essentially "vaporized" into a white cloud. And he's doing well with his nice house and 4 kids.
Years ago we'd call this an "old wives' tale", now it spreads like wildfire on all those social media sites. And because you read it on the Internet, it must be true!
Seriously, CFLs oftentimes will fail in spectacular ways. The manufacturers claim that this is normal failure. I once did a search on that subject and came up with all sorts of stories and pictures. Of course now you can do a search and get pictures of a guy with his blank stuck in a blender.
jaykay18 I've broken a CFL IN MY HOUSE before! I was afraid of mercury when it happened too. I was just on a site and it said CFL's are environmentally friendly!!! What a joke.
Andrew Gallucci Exactly my point. When an incandescent burns out, it is 100% recyclable, it's simply glass and metal, both of which can be turned into something else!
Why do you have an exit sign in your basement and in your garage?
+Andrew Gallucci Do you really wanna know?
OK, the answer is simple. One day I was waiting somewhere and saw an exit sign. I read about them, I saw some vintage ones, I saw some modern ones. I realized that they are all in commercial buildings and not in a private home. So, because I lead my life on a "because I can basis", I found that Home Depot sells them! Of course the ones here didn't sell them. But one day while vacationing in CT, we stopped in there, and there they were, on display and on the shelf. It was only a second later that it was in the wagon.
Talking to an ex-co-worker of mine, he told me he is an electrician and we talked about exit signs, so he got me one. Now I had two. I actually liked the one from Home Depot better as it was double sided, the one from the guy was single-sided. So I decided to wire that one up and place it by the bar. That way the drunkards could find their way out? At least that was the idea. Rather, I thought it was cool.
So last spring when xjoe81x was over tidying up some wiring in the garage, I decommissioned the old extension cord. This was a hack wiring job by a previous owner, they simply took an old extension cord, cut the plug off, and tied into the light over the garage. Then they ran it out, I surmise for holiday lights. That's what I used it for. But this cord was really frayed, and had tons of electrical tape patches on it. Every year I'd go over every inch and tape it up some more. One day I found a real nice gash in it, and inside I could see the insulation on the wires inside was crumbling as well, so now it was dangerous. So the best solution would be to put an outlet in the garage there, right over the big door, and I'll just buy a regular orange outdoor extension cord, plug it in over the door, run it down the side, and out on the ground. This way I could also unplug it in the spring for further safety; the old cord was live every time the outside lights were on, which was every night. Since it only took a foot of wiring more, I had xjoe81x put the other exit sign there, as a single-sided sign was perfect for that area.
See? Simple.
jaykay18 I get it now. Thanks for explaining.
Did you ever find the Sunbeam bulbs?
Nope. I guess I used them. I know they were in a 4-pack in the box. They sat untested for years before I ever used them, and 1 out of the 4 was dead out of the box. That left 3. 1 was this one. The other 2 could have gone any number of places.
With the amount of lightbulbs you have, and considering they were well over 10 years old, you probably used them many years ago and didn't notice.
That's likely the case. Too bad too. Those Sunbeam bulbs were nice, I should have realized then and bought more.
My boss makes us write the date on them lol you know for warranty. Lol
+cory8791 I guarantee you there's not a single bulb in his house with the date on it!
(7:15) One day, we will see Jay's lightbulb collection.... Maybe.
That maybe may soon become a reality. Not only did I seriously think about it yesterday, I also have this list of "videos to make on a rainy day", and light bulbs was at the top of the list. Still hasn't happened yet, but maybe one day.
One day, first it has to get past your que of however many videos are in it.
I haven't counted how many are in the queue in some time. I'd gather there's enough in there to last me clear through the rest of this year. And the queue is ever-growing, I have 3 videos planned to record today.
Of course. Some in the editing list too?
Not really, all the editing is done, now it's just edit as I go. Last week I had a queue for that also.