Gallery of Lights
The Site => General discussion => Topic started by: GEsoftwhite100watts on November 04, 2012, 10:54:32 PM
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Do you clean up broken fluorescents and CFLs the EPA-suggested way? You know, evacuate and air out the room for 15 minutes, use sticky tape and an index card, do NOT vacuum, etc.?
Admittedly I don't. In fact about 20 minutes ago I inadvertently broke a spiral CFL (a 13w GE helical for whatever it's worth) and left the room for maybe 5 mintes tops, then just scraped it up and tossed it in the trash. Still not as bad as the time I had a ballast fall onto an (albeit warm white and EOL with no vacuum so no huge loss) Westy F40T12 black-ender lamp. Now that probably had some mercury to worry about LOL.
I've had this happen many other times too.
Anyway do you guys clean it up the official way?
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Well, If the lamp wasn't operating at the time of breakage then I would assume the mercury is solid so you don't have to go nuts, but i normally do leave the room for 15 minutes with a window opened and the door shut then get a dustpan and brush to clean it up. Then i wash my hands thoroughly of course.
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This one was lit...
Still not a bad idea to leave for a few minutes though...
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I usually step away for a few mins, if its an alto not usually but I've probably only broken a few lamps in my life. Used to hold my breath and run away when one broke, or lost vacuum. .but I've realized how little mercury there really is in modern lamps, 1.7- 10MG depending. .some rare cases you might see a lamp with a huge glob of mercury inside the size of a coin
Usually i take the shop vac and suck it up
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This may sound dumb, but how can you see the mercury? Isn't it like microscopic little bits?
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Not always, I can see the mercury in a pair of my GE warm white MainLighters...It's sorta diffused through the tube.
I'd post a pic but I currently don't have a working camera...
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Older lamps will sometimes have specs of mercury condense by the cathode, little specs. ..then when turned on will look like they are EOL because the mercury will evaporate off the end and then it will disappear for the most part
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That happens with my GE MainLighters all the time; I need to grab the rest of those...
BTW I took down the soon-to-be-mine vintage industrial shoplight today and will bring it home soon.
It's a shoplight, but it looks like an industrial/wanna-be-turret with it's wide, thick reflector. Since it was in a woodshop (my US History teacher used to own this house, probably installed this light and taught woodshop at one point) so it's covered in AMAZING amounts of caked-on sawdust (wiped some of it off with my hand and got to the metal for the most part) but it's going to need a SERIOUS cleaning. I'll try paper towels and Windex but I may remove the lamps, ballast, and other electrical components and give it a good washing with the garden house and dish soap. It'll need to be painted eventually (rust spots and heat marks near the ends because of the lamp cathodes). I've seen the light working in the past and I bet with new lamps (NOT 34w ones until I see what ballast it has) and a good cleaning it will last for many more decades aside from the occasional lamp (and maybe ballast) replacement.
Another thing I noticed is the lampholders are close together so there's none of that loose-lamp syndrome with this light like even Mike's 1973 shoplight has. I had a heck of a time removing the lamps compared to most other residential-grade "ShopLite" fixtures.
It was also hung with telecommunications cable...which was a pain to undo...
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Update: I've decided to mount it on my bedroom ceiling and unless the ballast is rated for 34w lamps I'll use a pair of lightly-used Sylvania Cool White Plus lamps or warm white GE MainLighters. Someday I'd like to find a pair of Westy blackenders for this thing as I think they would look just right in there.
I'll also explore the possibilities of making it preheat someday.
In a way I sorta hope this thing's ballast has a nice hum to it. Hopefully not a loud buzz.
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You can always get a sharpie and color the ends of the lamp black. that's what i generally do with the Sylvania CWP lamps LOL.
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LOL I've heard of that trick from many people...
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Personally I would only colour in Altos, the silver endcaps on the Sylvanias and GE look find in open fixtures. :P
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i don't color GE end caps because the etch is green. Black endcaps and a green etch look to bizzare LOL. i color the endcaps to make the lamp look more vintage that's all.
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Speaking of vintage...I brought home my vintage shoplight today!
Look in "Your Relamping Stories" for the whole story (and it's a good one)