gswitz
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Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
So, you know the scene. Musicians... gear... so much stuff plugged in who knows what runs where? a rats nest of cords and cables and flickering lights. I plugged in a new pedal board and one of the lamps began to flicker. It seemed to waver during a jam and then went out.
Who cares right? But then there was this awful smell. What's burning?? Oh S! Abandon ship! Grab the acoustics on the way out. :-)
I shut stuff down as fast as I could terrified I was breathing noxious gas. I went into the garage (under the studio) to see if the smell was there too, maybe indicating a fire. The stench was potent but only in the room. No clear origin. I did not think at first to turn off the lamp with blown bulb.
Well, it was the light bulb. The package says don't put it on a dimmer or a timer. It wasn't on a dimmer or timer, but I'm guessing voltage fluctuations killed it. :-(
First time I've had to stop a session over a blown lightbulb.
StudioCat > I use Windows 10 and Sonar Platinum. I have a touch screen. I make some videos. This one shows how to do a physical loopback on the RME UCX to get many more equalizer nodes.
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craigb
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/18 17:31:17
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'Tis why I always have a bunch of Furman power conditioners in use (with the voltage display). I plugged one in at home and found that turning a heater on in another part of the room (that shouldn't impact the other wall) caused the voltage to drop 6 volts! Not good, but at least I now know there's an issue there.
The one that always makes me freak out for a bit is when you turn on something that heats up and there's dust on it that burns off. I run around worrying that something was about to burst into flames until I specifically identify where the burning smell is coming from - lol!
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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sharke
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/18 17:33:35
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My cheap crappy blender always produces a burning smell when I turn it on. Reading the Amazon reviews it seems they all do it. Still freaks me out.
JamesWindows 10, Sonar SPlat (64-bit), Intel i7-4930K, 32GB RAM, RME Babyface, AKAI MPK Mini, Roland A-800 Pro, Focusrite VRM Box, Komplete 10 Ultimate, 2012 American Telecaster!
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craigb
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/18 17:37:05
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sharke
My cheap crappy blender always produces a burning smell when I turn it on. Reading the Amazon reviews it seems they all do it. Still freaks me out.
Heh, I used to have one that did that too. I guess the motor runs hot and causes the oil to smoke a little. I've never smoked so I've also never burned out any of the receptors in my nose which makes it far easier for me to notice any burning smell. I once had a girlfriend who stopped smoking for me and, about a month later, she passed by someone who had recently been smoking and exclaimed "Wow, did I smell that bad after I smoked???" Naturally, I did what any guy in his right mind would do in that situation and pretended I didn't hear her question, then quickly changed the topic. 
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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sharke
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/19 13:11:57
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craigb
sharke
My cheap crappy blender always produces a burning smell when I turn it on. Reading the Amazon reviews it seems they all do it. Still freaks me out.
Heh, I used to have one that did that too. I guess the motor runs hot and causes the oil to smoke a little. I've never smoked so I've also never burned out any of the receptors in my nose which makes it far easier for me to notice any burning smell. I once had a girlfriend who stopped smoking for me and, about a month later, she passed by someone who had recently been smoking and exclaimed "Wow, did I smell that bad after I smoked???" Naturally, I did what any guy in his right mind would do in that situation and pretended I didn't hear her question, then quickly changed the topic.
Yes I'm always amazed when I see so-called "glamorous" girls in the city who spend $300 on a pair of shoes and $500 on a frock and have their hair and nails done for another couple hundred and spend hours in front of the mirror applying contour makeup, then spend all night puffing away on something that makes them smell like a hobo.
JamesWindows 10, Sonar SPlat (64-bit), Intel i7-4930K, 32GB RAM, RME Babyface, AKAI MPK Mini, Roland A-800 Pro, Focusrite VRM Box, Komplete 10 Ultimate, 2012 American Telecaster!
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craigb
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/19 14:42:58
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They won't care until paparazzi pictures include smell. These are the same ones that get all dressed up but "somehow" forget to wear any underwear, ya? 
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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jimusic
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/19 14:55:41
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craigb
'Tis why I always have a bunch of Furman power conditioners in use (with the voltage display). I plugged one in at home and found that turning a heater on in another part of the room (that shouldn't impact the other wall) caused the voltage to drop 6 volts! Not good, but at least I now know there's an issue there.
The one that always makes me freak out for a bit is when you turn on something that heats up and there's dust on it that burns off. I run around worrying that something was about to burst into flames until I specifically identify where the burning smell is coming from - lol!
Care to post some model numbers of those Furmans Craig? I've got a freezer coming tomorrow and they're notorious for sending a 'click' through the circuitry and onto the speakers when the compressor clicks on & off. No doubt that'll be picked up during recordings, as I've had in the past.
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craigb
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/19 14:59:00
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RP-8D's are very good (just looked straight down to get that model number - lol). 
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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craigb
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/19 15:01:11
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I used to have a bunch of them but just sold about six more (which is why I have these pictures).  
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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jimusic
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/19 16:50:51
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Hey, thanks so much for taking the time & effort to upload these pics, Craig.
Much appreciated!
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57Gregy
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/20 11:13:18
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Once during rehearsal, I was really getting into Johnny B. Goode and at the end I jumped up with my guitar held above me. Smashed the flourescent bulb hanging from the garage rafters. Glass everywhere. End of rehearsal, since that was the only light source in there.
It was cool.
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bapu
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/20 16:11:51
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BOOM BOOM
Out go the lights.
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craigb
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/20 17:20:53
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Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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Guitarhacker
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/21 08:52:36
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If it was one of those toxic spill waiting to happen compact florescent lamps that you screw into a normal lamp fixture socket..... that's par for the course.
Those CFL things have a definite life span limit. The base contains electronics to light the lamp and they do burn up. Sometimes catastrophically. I hate to leave them on when I leave the house for that very reason. I have seen where too many of them failed and when they did, they started a fire. Unlike an incandescent lamp which simply "burns out" it's filament and goes dark, the CFL's can easily go the other direction and create a literal fire hazard situation.
I have seen where it's recommended not to run them for more than 4 hrs at a time to get the life span indicated on the packaging. The bases get rather hot when they run so it kinda makes sense not to run them all day and night. I have a few of them in use in my house but I'm careful not to let them stay on when I'm not in the house to monitor them.
A power conditioner would likely not have helped since those lamps and their electronics will burn out at some point regardless of how regulated the voltage levels are to them.
Anytime something electronic burns up, it stinks.
My website & music: www.herbhartley.com MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface BMI/NSAI "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer "
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UbiquitousBubba
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Re: Flourescent Lightbulb sizzled during a session...
2014/04/21 09:14:02
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In my studio/dungeon/tomb, all of the Asian beetles (no, this is not a Yoko reference) and boxelder bugs (also not a Yoko reference) converge to plan their assault strategies. Being bugs, they haven't mastered the art of actually formulating a viable strategy, so they end up dying in vast quantities. Many of them decide to go out in a blaze of glory, so they swarm all over the fluorescent lights.
I don't know why they haven't bottled Eau de Charred Bug yet, but I'm pretty sure it's coming. I just want to be a part of the advertising campaign. I can't wait to see perfume thugs spraying innocent shoppers at the mall.
"Calvin Klein's Dead Bugs...for Her." (whispers: "Dead Bugs!")
"I don't always reek of decaying flesh, but when I do, I choose Bichos Chamuscados...Stay dead, my friends."
"Eau de Yoko...Now at KMart."
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