On 1/19/2012 5:19 PM, John Ferrell wrote:
> I have seen a few house fires started by recessed light fixtures. I
> refuse to use them. I backed off on that position with CFL's. They run
> nice and cool. Last evening my wife wanted to know what I was soldering
> that smelled so strong. The iron was cold so I went up stairs to
> investigate. Nothing found, false alarm.  I was in the shop about 2
> minutes and she said: "It is getting worse!". It is smoking! Sure
> enough, the 3-way lamp that we keep on a mechanical timer was smoking.
> Unplugging the lamp removed the problem. Careful inspection of the table
> lamp found everything cool. The base of the CFL was too hot to handle
> immediately.  The lamp had indeed try to catch fire on its own.  The
> brand is "Bright Effects" and I have know idea if the base would contain
> a fire.
>
> The real question is whether this is an "isolated incident" or an
> ongoing problem.
> I am back to my former distrust of recessed lighting.
>
When CFLs became the 'thing to have' many cheap imports showed up and=20
many of them would only work with the bulb pointing upwards.  Hanging=20
down, they got hotter and the electronics would die.  I saw some which=20
stipulated on the carton for upright mounting only.  One of mine=20
(installed downwards) in an outdoor fixture did just what you saw.

Correctly sized and installed recessed ceiling fixtures have been around=20
for well over a half century with no problems.  One situation that does=20
occur is that people replace the bulbs with higher wattage than the=20
design calls for with higher operating temperatures being the result.
--=20
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