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| Thread ID: 92066 | 2008-07-27 10:07:00 | power saving bulbs: what are these pieces? | utopian201 (6245) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 692838 | 2008-07-27 10:07:00 | Hi I found these small pieces of plastic or glass on the ground directly underneath one of those compact fluorescent bulbs (the power saving ones). I could tell it was from the bulb because the bulb still had some orange residue/crust where this little piece use to be. My question is: what are these little pieces for? Here is a picture of the bulb. c.imagehost.org The piece looks to have come off at the arrow tip. When it was new, I think it looked like the bit in the circle. Are these parts important? The light bulb still works. Here is a close up of the piece that fell off. 2 Of these fell off. c.imagehost.org It might have been there for structural support (to hold the tips of the pipes together). In my experience, these power saving bulbs fail quite often, they don't last years and years as they are supposed to... So does anyone know what these little pieces are, or what they are for? |
utopian201 (6245) | ||
| 692839 | 2008-07-27 10:14:00 | I think it's structural support, as the spiral ones don't have them IIRC. And the cheap ones do fail before their 'guaranteed' lifetime in my experience - but they do fail more catastrophically: one of mine started crackling, it flashed and I smelt burning :eek: Better than the standard flash IMO! |
jwil1 (65) | ||
| 692840 | 2008-07-27 10:19:00 | Probably just packing material. I have a compact fluorescent that has been running happily since around 1993. Still the brightest one I have ever had. (23W) | R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 692841 | 2008-07-27 19:45:00 | Probably enriched mercury. Suggest you ring the Green party and get them to come and decontaminate your house ! Just joking. |
Digby (677) | ||
| 692842 | 2008-07-27 21:50:00 | Wow! What is the half-life of mercury? |
R2x1 (4628) | ||
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