Halo track has been around for a really long time. I haven't heard of this problem so far. But in case you are interested, WAC lighting makes track and track heads that are compatible with Halo. Nora Lighting is also compatible. Are these tracks on dimmers?

I would contact Halo's technical support people and find out if there is something that may be wrong with the connectors or something else. They may be able to solve your problem easily since they get all of the quesitons.

If you've lost everything after the first joint, it's fairly obvious that that's where the problem is. Most likely some part got deformed before or during installation, and isn't making solid contact. I'd take that joint apart and look at it; you may even be able to see something that's damaged, or evidence of arcing. The problem has got to be with one of the tracks flanking the intermittently failing joint, or with the connector. I'd have an extra connector piece and a section of track on hand before taking things apart, so you have the best chance of fixing it immediately.

I don't have extensive experience with CFLs but I know their ballasts are often intolerant of enclosed fixtures that trap heat. Also, 7 year life assumes residential use, where they'd be on for only a few hours a day; it's probably more like 2 years in a commercial setting.

Ilitem, tracks are not on dimmers-most CFLs don't do dim.
Jon, the CFLs are not in cans-they are the spot models and just mounted in exposed socket type mounts. And they lasted about 6 weeks not 2 years. I had expected shorter lifetime in a 10 hour per day environment, but a month and a half is ridiculous.

I agree we know where the problem is, just wondering if Halo is junk given my two bad experiences, but I get the impression it is probably not so bad. We will probably try replacing the connector between the two tracks. When we took down the tracks in the kitchen a while ago, there was evidence of arcing in the power connector I had to periodically had to whack. It would stop making contact but not obvious why.

I'm in the business 30 years and used to recommend Halo exclusively. I can say I don't anymore as I feel their quality has diminshed some. That said it is a fairly good product. I am sure if you took out the joining piece and took a good look at it you would see the problem. The point of contact is a fairly small one and there isn't a whole lot of tolerance for error.