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StressMan79
10-29-2008, 08:05 AM
Can CFL bulbs tolerate dirty AC, say from a cheap modified sine inverter? Thanks for any input.

-Peter
StressMan79
10-29-2008, 02:14 PM
I checked some other forums, and the recifier in the CFLs are not big enough to handle the dirty AC. They will buzz anoyingly, be slightly dimmer than normal, and fail prematurely. They recommended buying larger rectifiers and pre-rectify the current to DC. I got some off digikey.com (2A, 200V) for 40 cents each (order of 30). This is more than I need but it is on one IC, and then if any fail, I'll have extras. Also 2 A is 240 W. That is a lot of CFLs (there is a roughly 60/13 ratio from incandescent), so that is like 240/13 =18 60 watt bulbs. They should be sufficient for bulk lighting requirements for most of the house. Now all I need is another 200 watt inverter (spare).

-Peter