Fluorescent Bulbs

So I watched a video a while back, some guy ranting about home Fluorescent Bulbs.

We had changed out all our bulbs to Fluorescent a long time ago, and as those burn out we are replacing them with the LEDs.

You have to be careful because fluorescent bulbs contain Mercury (Another part of that guys rant, about waste disposal vrs benefits of power consumption, he really made some valid points). Anyway - Mercury is what give the light the ability to emit light (ionizing mercury vapors). Mercury is highly toxic. If you do not remember your schooling, look it up.

Besides Mercury, these bulbs have a lot of components. I had no idea until I took one apart.
The glass is sealed, just don't break it. You will see where the seam in the plastic is. They are just press fit and may have  some glue.
I squeezed the socket end around a few times to loosen it, then it just pops off.

Again don't break the glass. You might want to wear a mask and gloves. Mercury can be inhaled and or absorbed through the skin into your blood stream. One of the symptoms of mercury poisoning is "mood swings". FYI - mentioning to someone about their mood swings must activate the mercury poisoning, because they just go ballistic.

BUT - you don't have too take one apart, I have pictures here

few other bulbs I took apart

Once I take the circuit board out, I just put them back together and take them in to be recycled. Big Box stores usually have a container just for returning broken fluorescent bulbs. I'm not sure what they do with them really.

I have not checked to see what components have failed in these bulbs yet.

They have a lot of parts. I'm thinking that board itself will be good for future circuit projects. Will need to work the traces out, but cool.