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CFLs have ballasts that are very susceptible to electrical transients. [PDF] Typically, the cheaper the bulb the cheaper the ballast electronics are. This makes them vulnerable to "dirty power" and will shorten their lifetime considerably. The more expensive bulbs have better ballasts, but without surge protection they are also prone to early ballast failure. I have CFLs in my apartment and the wiring in this place is more than 40 years old and power generation in the town I live in is pretty spike prone and browns out almost weekly. I lose a bulb about every three to five years (on average, some longer) from the bad wiring in the place (shorting switches, just bad wires, etc.) and most likely from the dirty power. Just yesterday I lost the one in the overhead hallway light when I turned it on via the wall switch. That bulb was about five years old and a mid-range priced one from GE.

LED "bulbs" have AC-DC power converters in them that are also susceptible to power transients, but not as much so as CFL ballasts as the converters tend to have moderate surge suppression circuits built into them making them a little more robust. I do have a few of those around that I am experimenting with to see if they last any longer in my environment. Jury is still out.

The gist is, if your bulbs are dying early the problem may not (just) be the bulb itself but the quality of AC power being supplied to it, quality that may be affected by the wiring in your dwelling, the equipment between the dwelling and the generator, natural or external to the power system causes (CME, lightning, downed tree, car accident, damn squirrel!) and/or the power generation process itself. Remember they test these things and do quality assurance on them in a lab, with clean power and very controlled conditions. YMMV I should also note that incandescent bulbs failed at a much higher rate, replacing the same bulbs every two to three years and sometimes sooner depending on use case. The CFLs and LED bulbs are also prone to failure due to heat buildup so the ones I have in closed fixtures, e.g., overhead fixtures, do fail more often than the ones I have in open ones, e.g., table lamps.

http://www.geindustrial.com/products/static/ecomagination-electric-vehicles/
GE sells not only electrical generation, but The GE WattStation, for charging electric vehicles. If they want this investment to work, at a minimum they have to demonstrate that it works for their company. Then perhaps USPS/UPS/FedEx might consider experimenting with electric trucks, etc.

I'd say you'll thank yourself if you have some of these items:

A Spot Cooler- If you have a CRAC unit crap out and need some coverage while replacing part(s).

Replacement compressor(s)

A variety of above floor fans, and below floor fans (in case of water under the floor).

As many spare breakers as they'll let you buy. (that UPS is no good to you with a bad breaker downstream of it).

Don't just get tarps, get these tarps.

Extra long load bank cables. Have your electrician make them up for you. If you make them extra long and store them onsite, you can use them to jumper out inside switchgear if you suffer a catastrophic failure (it might be ugly, but if done right, it can save your ass).

Flashlights that will work.

Hand operated pumps. If you have a pump fail and you need to get diesel fuel from your storage tanks to the "day tanks" of you generators, you'll be glad this is on the shelf.

A megger.

A phase rotation meter.

A good circuit tracer.


That's a pretty good start.

As I flew through the Salt Lake City International Airport last time, they had new GE explosive detectors, which puff air on you and then spend a few seconds analyzing it for any explosives. It adds about 20 more seconds per person to the security screening process. I wonder if it would detect firecrackers or smoke bombs.

http://www.geindustrial.com/cwc/products/ge-interl ogix?pnlid=9&famid=5131&catid=562&id=end_wt&lang=e n_US

Hmm, I didn't realize it also detected drugs. They never mentioned that when I was walking through it.

GE has a system already in place at some airports (I've seen it at the Logan's Delta terminal) which puffs air at people to detect explosives. It sounds like this technology being "developed" is just an extension of that. The GE product is for people and is similar (and I think also acts as) a metal detector instead of being only for luggage. http://www.geindustrial.com/presscenter/home?actio n=pressReleaseDetail&business=infra&newsId=352&Dt_ Lo=YES

I wouldn't want to stare straight into a 4000W industrial laser even if I was 5 miles away and it's beem was 5' wide. At 5 feet wide that beam is going to be about as intense as a 15mW laser beam thats .25 inches wide. Ever stare stright into a laser pointer for 10 seconds or so? You might have a rough time seeing for the next few minutes.

Remember, you don't have to permanantly damage the pilots eyes, you just have to temporarily blind him. Even being blind for just a few minutes could be terrible if he was coming in for a landing, or in an area with a lot of other air traffic. Ever have an especially bright flashbulb go off in your face? It won't do any permanent damage, but it can certainly make things hard to see for a minutes or two. Especially at night when your eyes need to be attuned to a darker environment.

They state proximity RFIDs...just how far does this proximity go?

Anyone else still run old DOS programs on actual DOS machines?

Yes, GE Interlogix (formally ITI) runs their PC board tests on DOS programs in DOS. However, I think their oldest computer is still a Pentium.

hey kids, want to learn about the exciting world of automation? Here's a few links! Offtopic? Who cares!?

Omron
GE Industrial Systems or GE Fanuc
Rockwell Automation
Phoenix Contact
ABB
Nachi
Wieland

In case you're wondering, this is what I do for a living... And right now I'm very bored... Time to go home soon. Soon... soon...

hey kids, want to learn about the exciting world of automation? Here's a few links! Offtopic? Who cares!?

Omron
GE Industrial Systems or GE Fanuc
Rockwell Automation
Phoenix Contact
ABB
Nachi
Wieland

In case you're wondering, this is what I do for a living... And right now I'm very bored... Time to go home soon. Soon... soon...