My red 200W CFL went pop after 3 weeks...

buggedcom

buggedcom

...and I can't quite believe it. It's not on 24/7. It's only been on 15 hours a day. I'm not entirely sure what do do about it. The last thing I want is to spend another £35 on a bulb that lasts 3 goddamn weeks. I'm going to try to get a replacement but something tells me that's not going to be possible.

What do you think I should do? Replace the CFL with another, or try something else like standard fluorescence or LED's.

That said I was really enjoying the "sunlight" type warm light coming off the bulb and this has somewhat ruined my morning.
 
I know, right. Talk about infuriating. I have emailed the company that sold it to me and we shall see what happens. I doubt I'll get a refund from them because I ordered it to England when I went back for a visit as things are cheaper in the UK than in Finland and brought it back via hand luggage. The company won't deliver international as they are so easy to break in the post they said.

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
 
Refund then? I hope you they come through mate that just sucks.
I suppose you could not have broken it in transport as it worked for three weeks!
 
I hope so. But I'm gonna have to get one in Finland and the things are about 2.5 times the price as in the UK. £37 in the UK, 90€ (£84) in Finland!!!! Bloody great. Most of my larger plants are starting to flower a lot. My apartment doesn't get much light and it's not possible to move them outside (it would be too cold anyway)
 
Just looking into LED vs CFL comparisons and so far the results are mixed and would appreciate someone's advice who has used both types.


Someone has actually done an interesting comparison of costs also and it is quite an interesting comparison. There are lots of assumptions involved also.

CUMULATIVE COST COMPARISON (Over 8 Year Life Of LEDs)
Months / LED cost / CFL cost
0-12 / 265.09 / 122.22
13-24 / 270.18 / 187.39
25-36 / 275.27 / 252.56
37-48 / 280.36 / 297.78
49-60 / 285.45 / 362.95
61-72 / 290.54 / 428.12
73-84 / 295.63 / 473.34
85-96 / 300.72 / 538.51
96-nn / 560.72 / 603.68
http://www.bonsaihunk.us/info/LEDvsFluoresc.html

I've also found another interesting link

http://www.productdose.com/LightBulb_Comparison.xls

It calculates the amount you would save or spend using different types of bulbs. The document is more focused on household lights rather than grow lights but is still interesting
 
bugged,

Did the end blow out of it or did it just quit working? I had one of each and both happened within a week of using it. In the first instance (just quit working) the place I got it from sent me a replacement. The one that exploded was to be replaced by the company, though I have not got around to mailing it to them.

Mike
 
Mike,

I'd just turned them on, then 30 secs later... *POP*. No blow outs or anything like that. Just a really loud noise then nothing. I took it off and there's some rattling going on but that's it.
 
Odd and very odd. Don't they have a built-in ballast or similar? Maybe that's what is rattling? Do you know who made the bulb?

If you are just using it for seedlings, a 105 watt will work.

Mike
 
Yeah they have a built in ballast, and the rattle wasn't there before when I put up the light. The bulb is envirolight. And is was a 2700K light for flowering. I already have 3 15W Megaman lamps for the seedlings and once they are big enough for transplant I then move them under the 250W 6400K CFL for growth. The larger plants that I started in September are just started budding cycle and now I have no red light to continue support. AAARRRGGGH!

Luckily however spring has just started to hit Helsinki and I have an extremely large south eastily facing window that captures a lot of sun, I'm going to have to start moving them daily from their place in the office to their temporay housing shelter that is my window sill.
 
Hi buggedcom
is your grow room very humid? or did you scew the bulb in with your fingers? that can shorten the globe or in the transporting?
what a bummer...
 
No neither. I was very careful not to use my fingers and used the ballast to screw it in. It's not humid at all, as they are growing in my office.
 
Just phoned the retailer and they said basically because it was a bulb it had no warranty. Which I don't believe but they flat out refused a refund or replacement. I since phoned enirolites direct and they said there was nothing they could do. They also said that they no longer supplied the company that I purchased it from as they said they were a to quote "dodgy retailer" who left the bulbs sitting in warehouses for long periods of time.

Turns out I can buy a replacement from them direct and get it sent to Finland instead of paying the outrageous prices here. The end of the story is obvious. Always buy direct from the retailed.

Edit > Since speaking to Envirolite and learning that this company should be reputable I'm going to reserve judgment on the text below and say I've had a bad experience with them but they may not be completely bad.
I'm still pissed at the retailer so I'm going to recommend DO NOT buys lamps or growing equipment from this company.
Jungle Seeds - http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk
 
Just had a follow up phone call with a girl from Envirolites and she was very helpful. It seems that the company Jungle Seeds is actually not as bad as the initial guy from Envirolites made them out to be. She said that she was surprised that they didn't offer a refund or replacement and out of all her retailers she would have thought that they would have been the ones to do it.

It's nice when a company makes a good follow up phone call. Still annoyed that there is no refund though.

FYI, Anyone for anyone based in Helsinki you can apparently get Envirolites from a company called "Eko Pro", I've yet to find out what a replacement costs but we shall see.
 
Envirolites

Hi Buggedcom,

I used the company Agriculture.
I also purchased envirolights and actually my Hydroponics system from them.
My first Blue light stopped after 5 minutes, also no humidity and had a strange rattle. :(
I returned the globe to the store and they are going to replace it.

Here is the link to the store, they have a lot of goods at resonable prices.

http://www.agri-culture.eu/catalog/

Hope it helps.

Cheers
 
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