Re: Insteon now or wait?

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

> "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> >Agreed as to you installation, but IIRC, there have been reports of bulbs
> >blowing out.  That's not just annoying, it's plain dangerous.
>
> No, no, no. I've seen no reports of bulbs exploding. There have been some
> reports of such a bad flicker (rapidly on/off) that the bulbs "blow" (i.e.
> stop emitting light) not "blow up" (i.e. explode).

I just read through that whole HACCESS thread again.  (You know, the one
with the "Join Date" prominently displayed where just about every other
message program IN THE WORLD usually displays the send date!) I was looking
for that message or at least some missing message numbers because I clearly
remembered someone implying catastrophic bulb failure so severe it made me
think they had mis-pulled two hots off different phases to the bulb instead
of a hot and a neutral.  But HA stuff is so balkanized now, I can hardly
remember what I've read and where anymore with any accuracy.  Just ask Dan!

But all that aside, a smart lawyer would take the "blow out" feature and
with little effort convince a jury (via an expert witness) that flickering
bad enough to cause a new bulb to burn out could create unusual enough
stress to rupture the bulb.  I'm sure that's exactly how the bulb
manufacturer's expert witness would testify in any case involving a bulb
injury:  The other guys did it!   (-:  There's no doubt the bulbmaker would
be sued, too, if someone was seriously injured by an exploding bulb on a
Wingding switch.  That's the famous legal theory known as "sue ALL the
deepest pockets."

I got the impression from both your experience with your LM14A and the
Insteon-related  posts that this type of switch-induced "burn out" occurs
quite rapidly.  I wouldn't want to be a lawyer faced with convincing a jury
that a switch that causes bulbs to burn out within days, hours or minutes
*couldn't* be a proximate cause of their catastrophic failure.   I used to
do litigation computer support.  The scenario above isn't even a stretch
compared to the tenuous connections upon which I've seen juries return huge
awards.

Let's consider this.  Would you agree that if a bulb is to fail
catastrophically - in other words explode -  it's more likely to do so when
the filament fails than at any other time?   Filament failure is the moment
when the bulb is subject to an inrush current at least several times its
nominal rating.  Anyone who's examined a burned-out bulb knows that some
filament failures are quite violent, causing flashbulb-like bright flashes,
molten metal to splatter on the inside of the bulb, and, on occasion, the
glass envelope to shatter.  According to one website

http://www.arcadianlighting.com/troubleshoot-lamps.html

(and other things I've read at Wikipedia and elsewhere) the current surge
due to a "burnout arc" can reach hundreds of amps.

So, if bulbs are most likely to explode when the filament fails and these
switches are found to cause bulbs to burn out prematurely, doesn't that
imply the user is exposed to more potential danger opportunities than they
experienced before installing said "burn out" switch?

I'm sure you know that civil cases are decided on a preponderance of the
evidence, not "beyond a reasonable doubt" as they are in criminal trials.  A
civil suit plaintiff doesn't have to proof *conclusively* that the switch
contributed to the injury;  they merely have to prove it was more likely it
did than not.

I think SH should have suspended sales when that first 'blow out' messages
appeared.  They knew they had a problem but continued to ship the product.
Bad move.  Bad ethically and even worse for their reputation, I fear.

I've be re-reading some of the threads, searching for the message we both
apparently saw regarding blown bulbs.  Something that I didn't catch from
the first readthrough was the comment from SmartMike: "We have found a field
fix that is simple to apply to a problematic dimmer that has 'mild'
flickering."

That implies there's more than one flavor of flickering.  There may, as a
result, be different sets of consequences for each.

--
Bobby G.