I was screwing in my new 42 watt CFL into a light fixture that I bought with it, for some reason the fixture did not work at all when I turned it on. Then when I tried to screw it out, it became stuck, me panicing ripped the entire metal casing that was inside the fixture (destroying it in the process). I guess the fixture was wrong type of fixture because the bulb is good, I just tried it in my lamp fixture and it is a beauty. I figure that I am just going to take out a fixture in a lamp I have around the house and just use that in my growbox. I decided to use a 42watt CFL instead of my 400 watt MH because the MH would be overkill for the size enclosure I am building at the moment and they are much safer.
That sucks, but hardly a disaster, sounds like you have an easy fix. At least you didnt get electrocuted, now that woulda been bad. Ive had that happen before
That fixture is now 20 dollars down the tubes, now I can only use the brim reflector thing that came with it.
1 CFL light for two plants wont last very long. Their proper penetration length is only a few inches.