HOLY S my CF bulb burnt out LITERALLY

[Pengwuino]

HOLY S*** my CF bulb burnt out! LITERALLY!

OK UHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

My CF bulb... that's probably been in use for a year or 2... just burnt out... LITERALLY! It faded in and out and then it became really dim and a bit orange inside and then it became even mooooore dimmer and then it flat out went out. Now i can smell smoke. From what i remember... don't CF bulbs contain phosphorous and mercury?! Should i throw this thing ouside until the smoke is gone? Should i even evacuate this room? I am scared!

 

[Monique]

It does contain mercury, but just very little so there is no danger.

 

[Pengwuino]

Ok... but if i die, you'll be hearing from me!

 

[Gokul43201]

OK UHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

My CF bulb... that's probably been in use for a year or 2... just burnt out... LITERALLY! It faded in and out and then it became really dim and a bit orange inside and then it became even mooooore dimmer and then it flat out went out. Now i can smell smoke.

Wow! I can only imagine you've had an electronics failure and burned through a FET or somesuch.

From what i remember... don't CF bulbs contain phosphorous and mercury?!

Trace amounts of mercury (likely less than micrograms), but no phosphorus. You're getting confused with the phosphor (related to phosphorescence, not phosphorus) coating.

Should i throw this thing ouside until the smoke is gone? Should i even evacuate this room? I am scared!

Is there actually smoke billowing out from this thing, or do you only smell something? These bulbs are not supposed to die in a dangerous/catastrophic manner. The electronics eventually give out or the electrodes die and you can't ionize the gas any longer.

Anyway, I think you're supposed to send those back to the manufacturer for recycling. You most likely paid for the recycling cost when you bought the bulb.

 

[Chi Meson]

Some CF bulbs burn out long before their advertised "10,000 hour" life. Others (even from the same batch) keep going. I have several bulbs that are at least 12 years old and are still going (all of them Phillips bulbs). While I have "burnt through" 3 GE "2D" bulbs, and 2 GE "Genura" bulbs in only four years. Methinks GE sucks and Phillips is da bomb.

 

[Pengwuino]

There wasn't any visible smoke but you could smell smoke. It also made a weird noise when it went out. I'm suppose to send them back to the manufacturer? Pfff, i can't afford shipping these bulbs out :P

I suppose i got a decent amount of time out of this bulb considering it was on like, 16 hours a day for the last year or 2.