1992 GE Compax compact fluorescent light bulb (pre-heat)

The soft warm light of a radioactive isotope. Just charming...

The reason for their longevity is the good ol magnetic ballast. My uncle still has a few 8 foot flourescent fixtures in his garage, thought to be from around 1971 when the place was built. Still going strong to this day.

And that bulb will probably last another 20 years. Made back when they cared.

I've got an old Philips SL-18 of similar age, which is still running pretty good to this day. It's definitely well worn, and the light emission shows that, but it's still running great. It uses a magnetic ballast instead of the crappy electronic ballasts in newer CFLs, and it also has the big (Über heavy) glass housing.

This is an early CFL bulb. I was given one back in around 93. It worked until like 2 years ago (2018). It started off very dim but after you let it burn for a few minutes, it was as bright as a normal bulb

These old ones are much more reliable than the modern ones, I have yet to see a modern CFL to work as long as it is stated on the box.

Good video. The original purchase date of the bulb towards the end of the video is 4/17, is my birthday. Very cool. Thanks for posting.

Nice find! These were very high quality bulbs, and based on what I read regularly outdo the 9000 hour rating. The improved radio interference (and camera tricks at high shutter speeds) is because it uses a magnetic ballast. Can't say I've ever heard of a radioactive starter before! There's an Ace Hardware near here that has two examples of the successor to this bulb, the FLB17. I'm not quite crazy enough to pay the $12.99 they want for one, though.

That's amazing man, I had no idea the the term Lumen was coined backed then. As someone who sells light bulbs for a living I find this very intriguing and awed of how much CFL's really have increased over the years. With the introduction of the T2 style and colour temperatures such as 4100k and 5000/6000k and of course different base types. Nice find and video man.

I have one thats still going strong today!

I have one that still works. I inherited 5 or 6 back in 1995 and one have one left that works. This one has been in daily use in our bedroom, it gets switched on and off often and doesn't usually stay on for long periods of time.

Purchased mine in 1992 for $22.00. One just quit after daily use in the hallway of 16 or more hours per day. Lasted 26 years! I am going to miss it!

Magnetic ballast instead of the newer cheaper electronic ballast.

I'm impressed by the lack of radio interference. I have a modern-day GE florescent bulb in my bedroom fixture, and it interferes with the AM when I'm holding it over 3 or 4 feet away! It even causes some noise on FM! My laptop (a white plastic MacBook circa 2008) has even worse interference, it brings noise into the signal whenever the radio is less than 5-6 feet away. When less than a foot away it will completely block out both FM and AM! So when I'm picking up weaker stations, I have to remember to shut off the CFL and move my laptop to another room.

This reminds me of the classic old early 90s Philips Prismatic CFLs. Those also use a preheat starter and they have a heavy real glass housing. I need to make a video about those - I still have two of them lying 'round.

A lot of the newer CFLs, especially the cheap ones, tend to fail early because of the bad electronics.

Must have been a real luxury back in 1992! In my house we have similar CFLs - GE model FLB17 (16 watt), dated from 08/1996.

In europe we had the philips sl * prismatic with magnetic ballast 220v 50hz, these lamps were very reliable.

I'm still using the same halo style fluorescent lamp bulbs since 1993, they still work perfectly fine.

$20 some dollars for a GE bulb made in Japan. You got it for $3.99 I have a Dazor Task lamp (desk lamp), from 1997, made in USA, heavy base, it had three 18 inch fluorescent tubes (daylight 6500k) installed made by Phillips, bulbs made in Japan. Phillips is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Go figure, when most brand name Japanese electronics (radios, calculators) were being made outside of Japan.