Hi all,
The flourescent tubes in the garage has begun to take progressively longer to light up. We have two separate units running off the same switch, and they both seem to be suffering with the same problem.
Is it likely to be a starter, tube or ballast issue? I have not much idea about which causes this sort of delay. IT now takes up to about 10 seconds to light, whcih when I'm trying to get to the beer fridge is clearly an unacceptable delay ;-)
Cheers
Mike
| Hi all, |=20 | The flourescent tubes in the garage has begun to take progressively=20 | longer to light up. We have two separate units running off the same=20 | switch, and they both seem to be suffering with the same problem. |=20 | Is it likely to be a starter, tube or ballast issue? I have not much=20 | idea about which causes this sort of delay. IT now takes up to about 10= =20 | seconds to light, whcih when I'm trying to get to the beer fridge is=20 | clearly an unacceptable delay ;-)
I change the starter first, because it is cheap and easy to change. If that does not work I change the tube. If that does not work I change the fitting.
--=20 Dave Fawthrop Register your mobile phone=20 IMEI *free* on
When they are trying to start, run your hand along from one end of the tube to the other and see if that lights it instantly. It is probably the starter if it lights.
It is most likely to be low temperatures.
You could try new starters, and failing that, if the tubes are dark at the ends, new tubes, but a better solution all round would be to replace the existing ballast and starter with an electronic ballast.
They are about £20 from TLC for one. Swapping them over is not hard to do at all.
Shop around though, because if you need to replace tubes etc. it might be a better option just to buy new fittings with electronic ballast already in them.
This will solve the problem and the lights will come on instantly in low temperatures.
Your beer gut will thank you for it.. :-)
If you want zero delay, you could add a 100W incandescent bulb to the lighting setup with a 10 or 20 second delay box that turns it off. You might be able to find an electronic "shared hallway" delay timer that does this, although some will time from the supply turning off, rather than on, so would not be suitable.
Christian.
Most likely the cold weather.
Wouldn't an inline cooler and a beer engine in the lounge save needless steps?
Failing that, why not put a 40W PIR controlled light in the garage so you don't need to bring on the fluoros if you're only in the garage for a few minutes or have your hands full ... or are crawling on the floor and can't reach the switch.
Owain
FWIW your filament bulb could be run from a relay fitted to the fl light. Current is much higher during preheat than during light. You'd need to rewind the relay coil though.
I think just adding a 40w bulb to the fl supply will work acceptably in practice. Eyes tolerate large brightness swings, just not swings between bright and black.
The proper solution is either a switchbank or electronic ballasts.
NT
Hmmm, I like your thinking!
Thanks for all the help chaps!
Mike
I replaced the started and it works a treat -thanks!
It did get me thinking though, how long do you have to keep a flouresent on for in order for it to be worth it? What I mean is, a normal 100W bulb uses a constant amount of juice (roughly speaking) from the moment you flick the switch. Is the same true of a tube or is there some start up extra power needed? If so, how long until it's economical?
cheers Mike
No significant extra energy is required for starting, either with current control gear, or old control gear. That's a complete myth. Where it may have come from is that the tube is aged an additional amount with each start. With poor control gear (from point of view of preheating tube electrodes), this probably equates to an extra hour's use per start, and with better control gear, less. Tube life (of the types you are likely to be buying for home use) is around 20,000 hours to complete failure if never switched off. However, it's not worth trying to get more than 10,000 hours out of them as the phosphor degrades and they become inefficient and dim. So you are not significantly affecting the useful life of the tube unless it's on for less than an hour on average. The tube itself is not a particularly significant part of the running costs if you replace it yourself, so you can probably completely ignore this issue and just switch on and off as required.
In my garage, I have 3 x 5' tubes on instant start control gear (the most punishing type for wear at switch-on). The lamps are controlled automatically by occupancy detectors, and I have them run for 10 minutes after last movement detected before switching off. I should probably knock that down to 5 minutes -- in over
5 years, I've not had a single tube failure.
Power consumed during starting is higher, IIRC somewhere vaguely around twice run current. This is because the total load is choke plus the 2 very low heater resistances during start, whereas during run its choke plus fl tube, and the tube will drop roughly in the region of 100v.
But the old saying that a fl light is best left on is a myth, as this higher power startup only takes 2-3 seconds. Switching a light off for just 3 seconds then restarting will use about the same total energy as leaving it on, any longer and its better off.
Lamp life is reduced by switching, but again this is not a cause to not switch.
Re lamp life, 58w x 20,000 hrs =3D 1160kWh @ 8p/kWh, =3D =A392.80 So a fl tube eats around =A390 per life, and the tube costs =A33 or so. Clearly its better to switch it off every time its not used.
NT
I was wondering if it would be more efficient to fit a normal tungsten bulb as the light only goes on and off as we go into the garage, typically it will be on for 2-3 mins at a time, and up to 15 times a day. Sounds like there is not much in it.
Cheers Mike
Given the tiny amount of electricity involved, yes. Safety is more important.
what do you mean about safety? is the flourescent or tungsten safer?
I was thinking of you tripping over things in the garage when desperate for a beer. ;-)
Ahhh, makes perfect sense now, must be time for another beer!
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