Cold cathode lamp?

[Alex (YMG)]

Dear all,

I saw this in the Toolstation catalogue:

'GU10 Reflector Lamp Cold Cathode'

remember previous posts on here suggested that the low energy GU10 lamps available were pretty dire, as were the LED ones. Is thing exactly the same technology, or is it likely to be any better? An American website seemed to suggest these were somehow different to normal CFLs?

Thanks !

Alex

[Ian Stirling]

They are. They have no heaters, and have a bit higher brightness per unit area, and are a bit less efficient than larger tubes. The second MAY mean that they have a better beam patten.

5W, well, it's probably equivalent to a 3W "conventional" fluorescant, so maybe a 30W halogen? I'd be interested if you buy one for you to give a report.

Compared with LED, these are going to emit much, much more light.

[Ian Stirling]

I should have looked closer. Looking at the enlarged image, rotated and zoomed.

Text on lamp. ROBUS (r) CE RCCQU5W 50ma

230V 50/60Hz 4000K Not dimmable Now, entering the model number into google gives nothing... Looking for Robus takes me to has info on the company, looking on 'products' link reveals the hopefull category 'lamps', but to no avail. Can anyone do better?

[Andrew Gabriel]

If the tube is long and thin, this effect should be minimised.

1:10 is extremely optimistic -- I'd go with 1:5 max giving 15W, but the use of a cold cathode tube might not be reducing the equivalent light output by as much as your 5:3 ratio, so it might be a bit better than this.

It will be rather more of a flood lamp spread, verses extremely narrow beam spot lamp for LED ones. A long tube could also mean a long run-up time to full brightness. Indeed it could be very much longer the first time it's used after having come out of storage, to get the mercury diffused through the full length of the tube.

[Alex (YMG)]

Glad to know I wasn't the only one trying to read that RCCQU5W upside down and a bit to the side ! I spent a while looking and didn't find much info on them, one of my concerns is the 4000k colour temperature - but I guess at least with Toolstation the bulb can be returned if it decides to self destruct upon first operation!

I'll let you know if I get one (it would be to replace a 35w GU10 above my front door, which is left on for 5+ hours a day - so could hopefully be suitable).

Alex

[Simon Stroud]

I just ordered a set of 5 "7W 4000K" GU10 fluorescent bulbs from CPC to try out for replacing the 5x50W halogens in the kitchen ceiling.

VERY disappointing. Very dim, and don't pass the SWMBO test. So, they're now installed in the 4xGU10 fittin in my study where they're pretty satisfactory (it's a small room). They also take a LONG time (I reckon 1-2 minutes) to get up to brightness. It's very strange - it looks like only part of the tube lights up to start with, then the rest of the tube starts to light. They have a tube folded into the rather long GU10 style housing in two layers and the rear layer somehow lights up first.

Anyway, probably not as disappointing as LED ones but nowhere near good enough for the kitchen. Shame - the 5x50W halogen bulbs are back in and working well (and using about 7x as much power).

And one other small point. Although supposedly GU10 compatible, these 7W ones (Prolite brand) are a bit big round the back. They have two "flats" on the side but to get them into the flush ceiling fittings I had to bend the "springs" in the fittings out of the way a bit.

Regards,

Simon.