If WALMART sells them, and they are electronic, you can be sure they won't work after you walk them out the front door. Walmart has a stated policy of buying the cheapest available device. They have NO quality control department. Customer returns are not returned to the vendor for analysis, just dumped, so the vendor never knows why things are returned or what is failing. The quality goes out before the name goes on. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Spehro Pefhany" To: Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 10:58 AM Subject: Re: [EE]:[OT]: Bulb Life and Practical Jokes > At 10:15 PM 7/5/01 -0600, you wrote: > >On Wed, 4 Jul 2001 17:14:48 -0600, Michael C. Reid wrote: > > > >>Walmart has compact fluorescents for under $5.00 each! > > > >Does anyone ever question either the safety or quality of such > >devices at a price approaching the unit price overhead cost > >of stocking an empty box on the shelves and printing the coupons? > > If Walmart sells them you can be sure they have been tested by UL > or the equivalent and have been given a clean bill of health safety-wise. > > These huge retailers have tremendous power over the manufacturers (or > importers)- if they product was complete crap and the customers came > back for refunds or replacements, the manufacturer would pay for it, > and Walmart would probably ship the entire remaining stock from all their > stores back to the supplier. So, chances are, they are "good enough". > > An expensive electronic ballast globe type one (11W about US$20) quit > in one of our outdoor fixtures and I dissected it. Fairly marginal parts, > I think I could make good money at $8/unit factory door price, but not > at $2.50. I wonder if anyone has considered combining a CF lamp and > an incandescent, using the latter as a ballast. You'd get a blended > light and save the cost of all the fancy electronic stuff (I know, > bite my tongue). > > Best regards, > > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = > Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" > speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com > Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com > Contributions invited->The AVR-gcc FAQ is at: http://www.bluecollarlinux.com > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: > [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads > > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads