So, new lamp for me, I guess. :)
So, I have this “torch lamp” that’s halogen in nature, and I’ve never really liked it – it has two settings, “dim” and “bright”, and the bright setting only works for 15 or 20 mintues before it turns itself off to preserve itself.
Well, the dim setting died, and Lucy asked if I was going to replace the bulb. I said no, because I was kinda looking to get a more conventional light. Meanwhile, I keep forgetting, and I turn it on, and experience a very, very, very slow rave as I type at the computer.
Until this evening, when it started flickering in an ominous way. I probably should have done something, but y’know, there were lolcats to look at.
Finally I got up to look, and saw a bit of smoke, and smelled the beginnings of an electrical fire. Woohoo! I tried to turn it off, and apparently the switch melted such that it just spun in place.
Thank goodness I didn’t forget about it before I left the house. The column itself was intensely hot.
You won’t be able to get a replacement halogen torch lamp. They stopped manufacturing them about six years ago in response to that very same fire-hazard problem. Which bums me out, all the torchieres they make now are incandescent- or fluorescent-bulb-driven only and, while much safer, they don’t throw off nearly as much light. If you don’t mind the risk of burning your house down, haha, you might yet be able to find some of the old-style torchieres on eBay, but that’s about the only place you’ll still find ’em.
No, I’m good with no fire hazard, and I didn’t like the halogen color for that one.