CFLs are blinking.

ok i just got some compact flourescent light fixtures with some light bulbs that i thought were great. well i screwed them in and they started blinking. i want to know which one of these problems it may be.

1. my light fixtures say 120v 60hz and my bulbs say 277v and 60hz.

2. i have too little power running to the lights

3. i have some kind of complicated problem where you are going to mention foreign things that i have never heard of

Some pics of or more info about your socket and bulbs. I believe (I could be wrong) from a very quick google search that the higher voltage lights require a ballast and shouldn't even fit in a standard screw-type 120v socket.

Define blinking...

I had a CFL bulb that when I screwed it in it kinda pulsed with a plasma looking effect. I assumed it was just a bad bulb as the rest worked just fine.

if they are normal cfl you probably have the wires lose in there check that first and most lamps run on 220 or 230 volts thats the normal house voltages. but with those specs for the light i think hellbelly is right they prob need a ballast.

I'm a maintenence man currently and in one of the units this guy with AIDS died. He had some grow equipment in there. I took it and he had a bunch of t5's. I took one and when I put all the flourescents in I could only get half the bulbs lit. I took it all apart and it was a bad ballast. I didn't want to buy a new ballast to replace it cause I was just going to sell the fucker.

Random, Anyways...

What's the wattage on these CFL's. I can't plug a 100+ watt CFL into any mogul sockets I have since they're not rated for it. If I did it might do the same thing your talking about.

Give it a minute and see because the cfls need to warm up and sometimes when they are brand new they do infact flicker but soon are fine

lilmcg49 said:

Give it a minute and see because the cfls need to warm up and sometimes when they are brand new they do infact flicker but soon are fine

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It's either this or you don't have enough power for the lights.

simple u said fixture 120v 60h
bulb 277v 60h

it has to match or fire starts with high power lights

its like taking bulbs(cfls) cheap big tvs overseas n they run a different wattage it wont work
either u get matching wattages or u get a converterfor an actual lamp if u have special lamps (fixtures)

but for bulb n fixtures9screw in) it has to be right

one more thing
if u leave it running for long periods of time it may cause a short out/black out (whole area like a living room or kitchen or what ever your outlet is mainly connected to) u can just go to ur house breaker (usually located in the basement) n turn it back on but i wouldnt recommend doing that over n over just cuz u wont get a matching bulb with fixture

Mr.Luso said:

if they are normal cfl you probably have the wires lose in there check that first and most lamps run on 220 or 230 volts thats the normal house voltages. but with those specs for the light i think hellbelly is right they prob need a ballast.

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In the US normal house (what you plug tvs, lamps etc. into) voltage is 110-120 volts 60 Hz. We have 220-240, but that's for large appliances, not cfls. The UK uses 220 volts.

hellbelly said:

In the US normal house (what you plug tvs, lamps etc. into) voltage is 110-120 volts 60 Hz. We have 220-240, but that's for large appliances, not cfls. The UK uses 220 volts.

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sorry my mistake i dint checked the normal voltages you guys use i just suppose it was the same as us in Europe we use 220-230 volts.

i thought that was it. i just wanted to make sure that they shouln't still work even with different voltages