Lidl Osram lights - adjustable!

On opening my Osram 3W fluorescant light, I found a 500 ohm pot. When twiddled one way, it makes it brighter, when twiddled the other, dimmer. Twiddled to a position at about 11:00, it uses 0.32A, rather than the normal

0.82A. It's dimmer, but still a good task light, and will now last about six hours, not two on NiMH cells, and its run-time on alkaline should be considerably extended. Don't turn it all the way anticlockwise, or something starts smelling hot.
Reply to
Ian Stirling
Loading thread data ...

You might shorten the tube life though. If there's not enough arc current to keep the electrodes in thermionic emission, it will start running as a cold cathode tube, which will quickly destroy electrodes which are not designed for such use. (Also drops the efficiency of the tube).

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Only trouble is your tube life will drop greatly - but I expect the saving on batteries will outweigh this extra cost.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

True. I mean to check the overall tube voltage, to see how anode/cathode falls change WRT current, compared to with nominal power running through the heaters.

Reply to
Ian Stirling

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.