Of course virtually everything we use today, especially complex, high-tech stuff, comes from China. Fortunately, Elecraft is a welcome exception (although I wouldn't suggest studying all the individual components inside too closely if one doesn't like Asian parts ;-) You bring up an excellent point about leaving any electrical device running unattended. About a year ago I had the air circulating fan on a wood stove literally burst into flames without warning. Shorted turns no doubt. Of course that was in a pretty fire-safe location since it was attached to the stove sitting in the masonry alcove, but the smoke would have been noxious and damaging had we not been there to disconnect it and suppress the fire immediately. The ham shack and work bench are completely shut down when I'm away. In the USA, the Underwriter's Labs (UL) rates CFL bulbs for safety even under the end-of-life conditions where the base overheats and the resistor-fuse burns open. Not all bulbs are UL approved though and that only says the base shouldn't fail when the smoke pours forth. About a year ago, the Canadian Electrical Safety Authority issued an alert about using CFLs that recommended they be replaced the moment any sign of malfunction appears: flickering, smelling hot, discolored base, etc. <http://www.esasafe.com/pdf/Safety_Alerts/07-03-AL.pdf> http://www.esasafe.com/pdf/Safety_Alerts/07-03-AL.pdf That's contrary to our long experience with ignoring a lamp until it fails and goes dark. Of course, that's been the case with fluorescent lamps for the last 50 years or so, but the smoke and noxious fumes (sometimes coupled with hot-dripping tar) usually came from overhead fixtures in offices and shops when the ballast transformer failed. It's a little different when it happens in our living room lamp (even without the hot tar ;-). The long fluorescent tubes also require special handling when they must be disposed of. That's true of most batteries too. The 5 mg of mercury in a typical CFL or even smaller amount in a "dry cell" is hardly a danger to us if we break one, but the aggregate of millions of them landing in landfills can produce a toxic mess. Some options to the normal recycling center drop-off for many cities can be found here: http://earth911.org/ www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling Many stores who sell new lamps will take dead CFLs for recycling, just like they do the long tubes. Like you, I'll continue to use them, but do so only in places where I can see what's going on. Hopefully, LED types will not have such worrisome failure mechanisms. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeremiah McCarthy Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 5:21 AM To: Elecraft Reflector Subject: [Elecraft] CFL's
The CFL that failed for me was a 22 watt GE, was made in China, and was not in a hooded desk lamp...It was in a table lamp with a12 inch open-top fabric lampshade sitting on a living room end table...I was not putting CFL's down, I was trying to warn folks to keep an eye on them for signs of over-heating...I have been using them for at least 10 years and will continue to do so, but one thing is for sure, I no longer leave a CFL burning when I am away from home overnight...It will be an incandescent for as long as I can get them...They are trying to "outlaw" incandescents in NY now... Again, these bulbs contain mercury and it is illegal in NY to dispose of them in the regular trash...We have to deliver them to the hazardous waste material facility where we also have to deliver computers, printers, TV's, etc...There is no curb pick-up for these items... Jerry, wa2dkg
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