NOS CFL's

[Beta 5]

Similar to the thread a while ago about NOS control gear, has anyone had any issues with NOS electronic CFL's?
Now some of the older 1990's ones are getting on a bit, it is a worry the electrolytic capacitors inside may begin to dry out and cause issues.

I'm not sure what actually happens when the EL cap in a CFL is dying, though if it doesn't cause a destructive failure of the ballast then in theory it should be possible to carefully pop open the lamps and re-cap them?

[Andy]

I’ve got several CFLs from the late ‘80s and the 90s but they all seem to work just fine.
They have worried myself about the caps drying out but so far I’ve seen no evidence of this happening.
Fingers crossed they will still be good a few decades from now!

[Beta 5]

This is what I've found so far too, they seem to work ok when tested, even those that haven't been stored in favourable conditions, so yes, fingers crossed it stays that way!

Some sources online state that the caps have a shelf life of as little as 2 or 3 years before they should be put into use, these CFL's (and of course the HF ballasts of the same era) are at least ten times that age. Perhaps the caps being 100% on spec is less critical in CFL's than it is in other electronic devices

I guess the ultimate test would be putting a 30 year old CFL into regular service and letting it run to EOL!

[Nick217]

I've had a few pop over the years mainly GE and Philips ones. Sometimes due to poor storage normally

[Beta 5]

Did they just blow the fuse as soon as switched on or did it happen after being lit a while? I wonder if they'd still be repairable after that happening.