Osborne Vixen - Zenith 7" display t-shooting issues

[drlegendre .]

Good god! Here's a choice quote from the linked article:

"The Underwriters Laboratories, the organization responsible for the safety
and testing of the bulbs, said some manufacturers have changed the
circuitry to reduce the negative effects when the bulbs burn out. They say
people should not be alarmed if they see smoke or flames, however.
“The reality is in investigations of these incidents, we generally find
it’s just the end of life,” said the organization."

Not to be "alarmed" if they see smoke or flames, and "It's just the END OF
LIFE"?! Wow, nice choice of words, there.. yeah, the end of life for the
children sleeping upstairs, I guess.

So I'm not really the conspiracy type - but either the UL has been
bought-off by the CFL mfrs, or that organization is a pale, hollow shell of
its former self. Since when in hell does the UL not consider +open flames+
from a small appliance to be a cause for alarm? There was a time when they
freaked-out over excessively large or improperly placed cooling slots, that
could allow a child (or idiot) to stick an object into the works of an
electrical device.. and yet today they brush-off light bulbs that
'commonly' emit smoke and flame?

On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 9:34 PM, Mike Stein <mhs.stein at gmail.com> wrote:

> "Don't be alarmed if you see smoke or fire" (coming out of your CFLs) -
> "It's just the end of life"
>
> http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/consumerwatch-cfl-bulb-safety-1.1210152
>
> CFLs definitely do not like being enclosed or upside down; they can also
> create substantial RF interference.And then there's the mercury content,
> dim
> light, especially when cold, etc. But they're a good source of parts...
>
> I haven't had my LED lamps long enough yet to see how they fare in those
> conditions.
>
> m
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>
> To: <General at classiccmp.org>; "Discussion at classiccmp.org:On-Topic and
> Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 07, 2014 10:09 PM
> Subject: Re: Osborne Vixen - Zenith 7" display t-shooting issues
>
>
>
>  On 11/07/2014 06:59 PM, drlegendre . wrote:
>>
>>  Sales guy there once said that the local utility (here it's Xcel Energy)
>>> subsidizes the prices for some reason.. must be some idiot carbon-cutting
>>> /
>>> offsetting regulation crap, or something like that, I'd guess. But FWIW,
>>> that's what we were told. Gotta keep those polar bears in seal blubber,
>>> ya
>>> know..
>>>
>>
>> Oh, I think I pay less than $2 the each here, but a lot of those things
>> are really Chinese crap--and they seldom last their stated life.  If all
>> my fixtures were base-down, they might last longer, but they're not--by an
>> large, they're IC recessed "cans".  One of the reasons that I don't invest
>> in LED Edison base replacements is that I suspect the electronics will
>> have its life considerably shortened by thermal issues.
>>
>> Manufacturers hem and haw about this issue a lot.
>>
>> --Chuck
>>
>>
>>
>