I've searched the group on Google groups and found two relevant threads:
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one of them the starters from Tabelek are recommended.
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that recommendation still hold?
I'm after starters that don't either (a) wait an interminable interval before deigning to start up the lamp or (b) go blink...blink...blink...blinkety-ahah!
I've been using standard Osram ST111s, and even with a new starter and a new tube, the behaviour is generally (b).
Personally, I like the light to come on in a reasonably short period after I've flicked the lightswitch, and not try and give me an epileptic seizure while doing so.
The alternative is wiring in an electronic hf ballast - is this Part P covered? If not, any recommendations on that score, and gotchas and things to avoid?
Those starters cost money, the light will still hum and be inefficient.
I thought the same until a couple of weeks ago but it really isn't difficult to get your hands on and fit an HF electronic ballast. I used eBay to obtain a Philips 2x58W. Other decent makes are available. Here is the thread I started:
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you can use: a screwdriver to release terminal block screws, a screwdriver (and maybe pliers to prevent a nut spinning) to remove the fixings on the old ballast(s), wire strippers to strip 8-9mm of insulation off for the push-fit terminals on the new ballast, a drill to make an extra hole to fit a screw through (electronic ballasts tend to be longer although the other dimensions are more compact)
Part P didn't enter my thought processes. It's no different to changing an entire fitting (which I believe is allowed anyway). Work methodically, isolate the fitting, don't rush, follow the wiring diagram on the ballast and double check your work. You'll be fine and wonder why you didn't do it before.
No such animal. If you want instant starting you need to use a different type of ballast, one capable of instant starting the tubes. Such ballasts dont have starters. Tubes dont last so well operated like that, hence its not common practice.
The next best thing is a starter that waits about 2 seconds then starts the tube without flicker. (The old thermal starters did a good job of that, but you cant use them.) There are various ways to achieve this, but the right electronic starter is a simple option, or if you've electronic skills a simple RC delayed relay would work.
"not common practice". Perhaps not with standard fluorescent lamps, but with CFLs it appears to be extremely common practice. I have several GE spiral CFLs that are instant on, and stick CFLs from many manufacturers that are the same. I've not measured them to see if 'instant' is actually a 0.3s delay, but they reliably come on without blinking, and if not instant, in a very short time. I'm aware that CFLs use high frequency ballasts.
With a standard fluorescent, perhaps there are high frequency ballasts that operate like the CFLs I have?
Or maybe I should just remove the standard fluorescent fitting and put in some CFLs instead?
Ooh - now that's a thought - the fluorescent fittings in question are all small linear tubes - in this case 15W (five of 'em, in various rooms. I guess the previous owner got a job-lot or something). Some hardware hacking needed, methinks.
For conventional ballasts, there are electronic starters. They are mostly based on a dedicated semiconductor IC, Y1112 which is called a Fluoractor - a dedicated electronic starter. It has a starting sequence it goes through, the timing of which is governed by external components. IIRC, there's a preheat phase where it just heats the tube filaments. Then there's a striking phase where continuously tries striking the tube by interrupting the preheat current at peaks of the current to generate back-EMF to strike the tube. This back-EMF will strike the tube without the pre-heating -- the pre-heating is just to extend the tube life. Is is possible to reduce the pre-heat period to almost nothing, so the tube instart-starts. These are noisy during starting though, due to the nasty waveform through the ballast whilst generating the back-EMF striking voltage. The difficult part is finding a starter which uses a fluoractor and has a short preheat time. I did have a PulseStarter one, but the ones I've bought more recently are different models that have quite a long preheat timer.
I have 3 instant-start 5' fittings in the garage, due to retrofitting Relco instant start HF ballasts which CPC used to sell. Unfortunately, Relco later changed the ballast to preheat whilst keeping the same part number, so that particular one is no use for instant start anymore, and instant start ballasts are getting harder to find.
Instant start is most common in the US, but that mostly uses tubes with single end contacts in conjunction with a high voltage lampholder interlocked with the supply. Since US has to transform their mains voltage up to operate anything but the shortest tubes, transforming it up to voltage levels capable of instant starting is no big deal and saves on the starter. Instant starting has never been used much outside the US, and AFAIK, no one else uses the instant start single end contact tubes, although ordinary tubes can also be instant-started.
The Tabelek electronic starter claims a 0.3 second preheat, so I'll try that first - it's better than a couple of seconds of blinking. If I'm still dissatisfied, I'll try one of the Philips Lighting Matchbox ballasts - the Red range claims 0.8 s preheat on the Philips Lighting website and, depending on the ballast, either a maximum ignition time of 0.45s or 0.92 s, the Blue claims a maximum ignition time of 0.45 seconds or 0.5 s depending on which bit of the website you read (the datasheet for the range, or the web pages for individual models), and doesn't mention preheat: which is all very confusing.
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