A month ago I replaced two of the four CFL bulbs I'd first put into my bathroom fixture in March of 2007. I knew it was only a matter of time before the other two failed.
I went down to the local hardware emporium to get a couple and was told by the cashier (Loyal Team Member since 2008!) that "somebody in Electric" (the department, I assume) told him that when replacing the bulbs you should wear gloves or in some other way keep your finger oils off the coils. If you don't they wear out sooner than expected.
I nodded my head in agreement and left. I did not say that was the silliest thing I'd ever heard, but I certainly thought it. Snopes has never heard of it; have you?
Posted by Linkmeister at October 26, 2008 02:11 PM | TrackBackI've read that in reference to halogen light bulbs in particular; it seems to me to be at least plausible for other types of bulbs.
Posted by: Earl Cooley III at October 26, 2008 10:42 PMWell, that takes it beyond one 20-year-old cashier's fantasy, anyway. Halogen I can kinda see, as thin as that glass is, but the CFL coils look and feel pretty thick to me.
Huh. I'll await further enlightenment. ;)
Posted by: Linkmeister at October 26, 2008 10:49 PMOver the last 2 years, I have replaced all the bulbs in our house with CFL's as the old ones died. I have been keeping an eye on the one in the laundry room, since it was the first to be replaced. That fixture is almost constantly on, and I kept having to replace burned out bulbs all the time. So, I thought I'd give one of them fancy new "last for 5 years" bulbs a shot. The CFL has been in place since June 2006.
I had not heard anything about special handling for the bulbs, and I have not used gloves or anything when handling them. I haven't had a single one burn out, yet. I think you just got a bad batch in Hawaii.
Posted by: Solonor at October 27, 2008 02:30 AMYour cashier is confused. As Earl Cooney III notes, the admonition is in place for halogen bulbs, not CFLs. The latter are just fluorescents, like any other fluorescent, except that they screw into sockets originally intended for incandescents.
The issue with halogen bulbs isn't their thickness/thinness. It's that their exterior surface is quartz. As described on Wikipedia, contamination of the surface can produce hot spots, converting the mineral's structure from vitreous to crystalline, resulting in either a gas leak (bulb failure) or a bubble (bulb explosion).
Posted by: N in Seattle at October 27, 2008 07:38 AMYow! Good thing we put that torchiere lamp away!
Posted by: Linkmeister at October 27, 2008 02:17 PMThat's news to me. It sounds suspiciously like a put-off.
Posted by: cassie-b at October 28, 2008 05:16 AM