Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Dirty electricity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CVLa_tRslY part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55081TOlbQ part 2

Radio frequency and ultra violet emissions from compact fluorescent bulbs.

I haven't noticed anything strange but haven't been using them very long either.

Very interesting and scary!

What can I say... it doesn't surprise me. All it means really is that we must think for ourselves. I like incandescent... but I am open to LEDs. Never did like the curly bulbs... and when I once worked in an office environment I didn't like the fluorescent. They made me feel 'off.'

Fire up a candle and kick back with a nice glass of vino. Works for me!!

Dang, I must of missed that news report.. but then again, I don't read the National Enquirer either, so I had no idea that Elvis is still alive

Cheers,
Brad

The energy people just went through here and added them. I don't like them at all. They "warm up" and get brighter as they are on for a little bit and get too bright for me. I don't like the light either, has a bad feel to it. Kind of antiseptic.

Yikes

I knew I didn't like CFL's for a reason.

Eeh! All ya gotta do is remember to always wear your pyramid-shaped aluminum foil cap(that of course would be your "pyramid-shaped aluminium foil cap", for you blokes over there in that little island known colloquially as "Ol' Blighty" BTW), and you can use all these friggin' CFLs ya want!!!

(and for you Hosers here, that "CFL" thing does NOT mean the "Canadian Football League" BTW...which reminds me...what the heck is with this whole "55 yardline" thing anyway, huh...err, EH???!!!)

get ready folks, the envirowakos are gonna push to have the old bulbs banned, its a matter of time before we are all stuck with these things...

I don't think they should be able to ban the old bulbs until they find a soft replacement. I hate the harsh light from those new bulbs.

One thing they are not considering is that the florescent material in these lights usually has very little persistence. This means they tend to flicker at twice the powerline frequency. Many power tools such as bench grinders use synchronous motors that turn at some even multiple or division of the AC line frequency. So, when they make you install all fluorescent lighting in your workshop, you will have to be extra careful that machinery is really off because the strobe effect can make it look like moving things are not in motion.

As an analytical kinda guy , this concept of "dirty" elecricity intrigued me , so I stuck two fingers down in an open lamp socket , and sure 'nuff , there was a dirty black spot on my fingertips .

What is the best inline filter to clean this electricity up ?

Yes a floresent bulb will flicker at the 60hz sine wave that the alternating current is producing. A regular bulb glows so when it's on, it doesn't flicker. You can see that it take a short while for that internal coil to completly go out and 60hz is too quick between cycles to allow it to noticably go off and on.

A good filter for that is a capacitor, or maybe try a 220 outlet. See if that one cleans ya up a bit.

Wow another potential problem with the fluorescent bulb. The real future is the LED. Low cost, low heat, Bright light, and doesn't have the baggage of the fluorescent. How ever I heard that the LED is still a few years away from hitting the residential market.