I've got a hanging light fixture in which I can't get CFL bulbs to work. They work fine screwed upside down in my garage light sockets, the bulb is confirmed working in other lamps.
Standard bulbs work fine in this same hanging fixture. Any theories as to why the CFL bulbs don't want to work in it?
Have you tried more than one bulb? If not, it could be that this one bulb is somehow bad in a way that it is sensitive to position. Otherwise, I'd suspect a wiring problem with the fixture. Check to see if it is grounded properly, and that hot and neutral wires are connected the same way that other fixtures are connected. Finally, put in a conventional bulb, and see if that bulb is the same brightness as that same bulb is when inserted into a different fixture. This should help you determine if there is a high-resistance or bad connection in the line feeding this socket.
-john-
Bend the center contact up. Some CFLs don't go into the socket deep enough.
*Is there a dimmer controlling this particular light fixture?
Is the fixture on a dimmer? If so, most CFLs won't work in it.
Gary
I was going to suggest the same thing, but let me add that you make SURE that power is off when you do this. The switch off may not be enough, pull the breaker. And while you are at it. make sure that the switch is in the hot side, not the neutral side, and make sure the hot goes to the center contact, not the shell.
Just stick in a screwdriver and touch the center to the shell and you can be sure wether or not the circuit really is dead. Then you can use the same screwdriver to bend the center contact up and be insulated via the screwdriver's handle the entire time.
A finger is easier.
Be careful with upside down CFLs and in particular CFLs mounted in fixtures upside down. Most don't like this orientation and being enclosed in fixtures makes the problem worse. The circuits in the "base" overheat and this *drastically* reduces longevity.
"krw" wrote
I put some CFL floods in my recessed ceiling fixtures. When I removed one for cleaning several months later, I noticed the tube was hanging loose from the base. I found the same problem with another of the same brand (don't remember what it was).
I replaced them with a different brand, and those are doing fine.
Not in my experience. Almost every single light fixture we have is a flood, so the CFLs are all mounted upside down and in an enclosed fixture. I have yet to replace a bulb and they're all at least 6 years old.
It is a *known* problem and there are some CFLs (and fixtures) now rated for this purpose. Be careful. It is *not* recommended.
Certain brands that have been widely indentified (one with three initials comes to mind) don't burn base up very long when they are in enclosed fixtures, but if they are open to the air like on the end of an extension cord do much better,
Perhaps your fixtures are vented letting heat escape?
Lou
Possibly an issue of mercury not vaporizing during the CFL startup phase due to bulb orientation.
Smarty
How about some brand names?
Aren't these trash CFL's wonderful? Our government certainly has our best interest at heart and knows how to choose our light bulbs better than we do.
Bob-tx
There are excellent CFLs and there are poor ones. Blaming the government for bad CFLs is silly. The local dollar stores here sell crappy regular incadescent bulbs with weak filaments which burn out very quickly. Consumers need to compare and recognize quality with CFLs just the same as any other product.
Smarty
There is a certain amount of knowledge required to live and get through the day. Perhaps you are just too stupid to understand a device that has both an "on" and an "off".
-john-
Are you sure that the receptacle in the fixture is allowing the CFL to screw all the way down to make contact at the bottom? Sometimes the design of the fixture isn't large enough to permit the larger base (just above the CFL's screw-in part) to fit alll the way in. It will screw in almost all the way, but not quite, and the bottom contact of the CFL doesn't touch the bottom of the socket.
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